Herald of the Knights
by Ghrathryn
Summary: Out in space, various Knights deal with their own situation and plan how to handle Jacinth's without obvious interference.
1. Planetfall

Disclaimer

Valdemar, Velgarth and anything else from that world belong to Mercedes Lackey. The Knights and characters, save the Grove-born, belong to me

* * *

Star light glinted off the battered fighter as it drifted towards a temperate blue-green planet. Compared with the vastness of the space that it was drifting through, the fighter was tiny, for its class however, it was considered large. Half burned off by the recent fight that had set the fighter drifting into this system was the armoured dragon protecting a planet from some unknown threat, the symbol of the Hreathrae Dforgrym, or Dragon Knights, as they were commonly known, along with the badly scorched image of a black horse with fire for its mane and tail on the wings.

Inside, lights flickered across the console in front of the pilot, a humanoid female, most of them red as the fighter reported the damage that had been done to it. Swearing under her breath, the pilot wrestled with the fighter's controls, eventually managing to stop the drift. Sighing, she leaned back, watching the stars outside her cockpit for a minute before another alarm went off. "Bloody hell!" She swore, reading the report. Leaning back, she sighed again. "Great. Not only am I in the middle of bloody nowhere, in a trashed fighter, but I've also got a screwed over atmosphere recycler?!" Rubbing a hand across the helmet covering her head, she sighed again. "Shit."

"Last know location indicates that the nearest Knight capital ship should be three hours away at maximum speed, Recruit." The soft, metallic voice of the fighter's onboard AI stated. "However, I have received extensive damage and cannot jump to light speed—"

"And oxygen supplies won't last long enough to get there on standard drives." The pilot stated flatly, cutting the AI off.

There was a pause of a few seconds while the AI worked before it responded. "Yes. There is an alternative though; I have enough oxygen that we could make it to this planet safely." It said, the HUD changing to indicate the blue-green planet within the solar system it had drifted into. "Sensors are damaged, but from what they can read, it's a Harrenthian-type world, no obvious high technology, but inhabited by several things, from this distance I'm unable to determine what the beings are, but they are oxygen breathers as the atmosphere is a nitrox mix."

The pilot studied the display for several minutes, even with the sensors damaged, it seemed that this planet was fairly able to support her, at least until rescue arrived. Tapping out a command on the console, she started the automated emergency signal having the fighter drop its sole beacon before slowly easing the engines up to speed, heading for the planet the fighter had indicated.

_At least, if I'm on the surface, I'll be busy enough that I'm not just waiting. _The pilot thought to herself. _Only one problem though Jas, you've got two sets of armour and weapons, what happens if you lose those? _Jacinth sighed, pushing that problem to the back of her mind. While it was true she had been carrying two sets of Knight equipment when she and the rest of her recruit squad had been attacked, her first priority needed to be getting down in one piece.

As the fighter approached the planet, Jacinth started lining it up for entry into the atmosphere, cursing softly at the sluggish responses from the fighter. Muttering under her breath, she checked the engine status and sighed, it seemed that the FTL drive wasn't the only thing that was shot to hell, sub-light engines were only working half capacity, and several manoeuvring thrusters were damaged enough that they weren't functioning. Swearing again, Jacinth managed to align for an entry window, easing the fighter forward through it.

Focusing on flying, she dropped the fighter through the atmosphere, fighting the turbulence that rocked the fighter. Gritting her teeth, she watched the heads-up display, watching her altitude. _Great way to get the real experience of landing on a planet from orbit. _She thought to herself. _Course, mom and dad never thought I'd end up running into trouble on a milk-run mission like this…. _Her train of thought was cut off by an explosion that flipped the fighter over, sending it into an uncontrolled spin.

Growling, Jacinth fought with the controls, managing, after several minutes, to fight out of the spin, and get the fighter the right way up relative to the planet's surface. "Shit!" She swore, glancing first at the altimeter, which showed that she'd lost a couple of thousand feet due to the explosion and its resulting spin, then at the damage report, finding that the explosion had happened in the cargo compartment she swore again. "Hells fury!" Sighing, she sent the fighter back into a descent, grumbling to herself. "Great, not only do I have a fucked fighter, but the cargo just got blown. I just hope that I didn't lose anything…."

* * *

The explosion caused the crows to jump from where they'd been feasting on the wheat seeds. It also startled the young man who had been dreaming — even though what he'd _supposed_ to have been doing was working — among the wheat stalks. Almost jumping to his feet, wide hazel eyes looked around for anything that had suddenly gone _boom!_

Running a shaking hand through his dark hair, Ronlyn sighed, he didn't like things that exploded, since the last thing that had, had been the local artificer blowing himself up, and that had showered Ronlyn with debris as well as deafened him for candle marks afterwards.

Looking back at the walls of Freeland, he wondered whether he should go back to the city and fetch someone to find out what that explosion had been. _Then again, _he thought, looking around at the virtually empty fields. _Who would believe me? Even my parents think I spend too much time day dreaming and not enough working. _Gathering his courage, Ronlyn moved slowly towards where he thought the explosion had come from.

As he approached the edge of the field, a soft white glow attracted his attention. Ronlyn frowned, following the glow until he came to the edge of a crater, blinking as he looked down into it; he saw that the light was coming from something that looked like a giant seed pod, coloured white and grey.

"Lord of Light," he breathed. "What is that thing?!" He asked, looking down at it, and then jumped back as the glow around it flared brighter. Oddly though, the thing wasn't hot. Moving forward slowly, Ronlyn watched the pod pulse slowly, seeming to get brighter as he approached. Backing up, he blinked as the pulses dimmed, then brightened as he approached again.

No one would believe him without some sort of proof of his tale, and yet, _he_ wasn't sure he believed it. This thing in the hole was obviously what had made the explosion, but what was it?

Cautiously, Ronlyn approached the hole closer, watching the pod pulse with light. It reacted to him, and he needed something to back up his story of what the explosion had been. Climbing down into the hole, he reached out carefully towards the pod. Finding it cool, he touched it carefully before picking it up and blinking when he found another item hidden under it.

Putting the pod down, he frowned, kneeling down by the object. It was small and metal, that much he could tell, but the shape of it wasn't familiar to him at all. Holding a hand out near it, he frowned, finding it, like the pod, remarkably cool considering the explosion. The last time with the artificer, things in the man's 'workshop' had been hot afterwards. Picking it up carefully, he frowned. Whatever this thing was, it fitted in his hand, and was in remarkably good condition considering the hole he was in and the fact that it had been _under_ the pod thing.

He was still crouched in the hole when he heard his father calling for him. Blinking, Ronlyn shook himself off and picked up the pod, tossing it out of the crater, he climbed out after it and picked it up again, tucking it under his arm before heading home. Somehow though, he had the feeling that his parents wouldn't believe him even _with_ the evidence he carried.

* * *

Jacinth hit the fuselage of her fighter with her hand. Leaning her head on her arm, she sighed. While she had made it down in one piece, her fighter might as well be scrap metal, and of the two crates containing armour and weapons for the Knights, one was gone.

Swearing softly, turned to look out at the area she had landed in, leaning her head against the fighter. Some courier she had turned out to be, especially since the _Tempest_'s armour factory was currently in the process of being rebuilt and they needed the armour for the recruits like her.

On the good side, she had managed to land in a fairly quiet area, but then, she didn't even know what planet she was on. 'Harrenthian-type' the fighter's AI had said, which covered a fair number of worlds, including Harrenthias, the original home of the original Hreathrae Dforgrym, this one, and Jacinth's parents' home world. Hell, she didn't even know what level of technology was available. One thing was certain; these people weren't at a level where they used space flight. Or at least not to any great extent, since the fighter would've picked up on the satellites, even with damaged sensors.

She sighed, going back to the cockpit of the fighter, her tail lashing as she climbed up onto the wing to get into the cockpit itself. Settling into the seat, she broke the seal on her helmet and took it off. Scales as black as the suit itself reflected the light from the planet's sun. "Alright computer," The young dragon said, flicking her tail slowly, "What can you give me about this planet and its location now that we're on the ground?" She asked, running a gloved hand through her white mane.

"The planet is a pre-industrial world designated Rhyl'seer Four." The computer replied. "It was discovered by the _DKS Drathryn_ three years back on an exploratory patrol."

Jacinth sighed, rolling her eyes. Ass end of nowhere. And why was it that the ruddy AI couldn't give her details when they had first found the damn planet and yet now they were dirt side it could? "Why could you not have told me that earlier?" She asked, her tail lashing. "Especially since we didn't have anywhere else to bloody well go."

"Because, Flight Cadet, at the time I didn't have enough data to determine where we were or what planet we were heading." The fighter responded huffily, making Jacinth want to giggle. Most people thought that computers and artificial intelligences were either emotionless machines or sounded like someone that had a bad throat. Of course, they didn't know Knight AIs, since most of the ships big and small had long running AIs that grew along with the people that worked around and within them, sharing joys and sorrows. That meant that they could be just as huffy or exasperating as any living being.

"Alright, so do you have information on where we are on this planet and what the dominant species are?" Jacinth asked.

"Unfortunately I cannot access those records from where we are; I'm afraid you'll just have to find out on your own." The AI replied, making Jacinth snort.

Well, that answered that question. Onto the next, before trouble came a knocking. "Did you see anywhere to stash you, or where the beings that live on this world gather?" Jacinth asked, flicking her tail. If this world was pre-industrial then she needed to hide the fighter at least. Better to not have even a battered one fall into the wrong person's hands.

The fighter thought for several moments, using its remaining sensors to sweep their surroundings. "There appears to be a town or city at the edge of my sensor range to the north-east," It said eventually. "And mountains to the south where I could be hidden from people."

Jacinth nodded, pulling her helmet back on. "Then let's get you hidden, and then I'll see what this town is like." She said, carefully powering up the fighter's repulsors and turning the fighter south.

* * *

"I'm telling you, Dad, I don't what those things are but they fell from the sky." Ronlyn said, sounding exasperated as a Herald-Mage studied the pod and the other item he had found with it.

His father snorted, crossing his arms over his chest. "Nothing has fallen from the sky, and it falling is a fairy tale." He said.

Herald-Mage Daria shook her head, trying to focus on her work. When Ronlyn had come back with these two strange devices, she had been called in to test for magic, since it hadn't been that long since the Mage Storms had raged through the world for a second time. She frowned, feeling alien magic all over the pod, the other item, which looked something like a metal, stripped down crossbow, had a feeling of energy there, but it was something other than magic.

Frowning, she called on her magic, one of her Gifts and cast a brief spell to see what had happened to the objects on the table in front of her. Releasing it, she closed her eyes as the images flickered through her mind.

_Creatures, something like the _Hertasi_ — the little lizard folk that_ _lived with the Kaled'a'in and Tayledras allies of Valdemar, her country — but different talked above her, for one thing these beings had manes very much like a horse's, and bat-like wings sprouting from their backs. The image faded to be replaced by another, being packed in a box by an odd dog-headed creature, then another, open sky and the boy._

Shaking her head again as she came back to herself to find Ronlyn and his father still arguing, Daria blinked. "The boy is right." She said softly.

"What?" Ronlyn's father asked, turning to look at her. "Herald, what do you mean?"

Daria turned to him. "These items," she said, waving her hand at them. "Taste of alien magic and the images I got from them suggest that they were created by beings not from this world."

"Lady Herald, you cannot be serious. There is nothing alive in the sky that can create things like that. They have got to be from here on Velgarth." The man said.

Daria shook her head. "Ronlyn, was there any sign of the area around these objects not belonging?" She asked, turning slightly to look at the boy.

Ronlyn shook his head. "No ma'am." He said. He didn't know who exactly she was, but she was a Herald, and more importantly a Herald-Mage, making her the right hand of the King. Heralds in the land of Valdemar, from all the tales and histories, were more than just the mouthpiece of the reigning Monarch; they were law givers, judges and sometimes war leaders. "There was an explosion and I found those things in a crater in the ground, but the ground looked like it was our field, except blown up."

Daria nodded. "Taking that into account, it suggests that these objects fell to where your son found them." She said. "Meaning…" When he went to interrupt her, she held up a hand to silence him. "Meaning that I need to take the two objects to Haven to be properly examined, and I need to take a statement from your son on how he found them." She said. "I might need to take him with me to give witness testimony as well, that is something I will have to contact the Circle about and I will inform you if his presence is needed."

Heading outside, she took a saddlebag from her Companion, patting his neck gently, before going back in to pick up the objects that Ronlyn had discovered. She slipped the metal object into the pack first as she felt a familiar touch inside her mind. _:Yes, Nath?:_ She asked mentally.

_:Are those the objects the boy found?:_ Nath asked privately. Because of his equine nature, as the Companions had always been horse-like in appearance, he couldn't enter Ronlyn and his father's home, nor could he talk physically, instead relying on body language and Mind Speech to communicate with his Herald.

Daria nodded, picking up the pod and starting for the door as she turned it over in her hands. _:Yes. Odd things that they are.:_ She replied, frowning slightly. _:The boy claims they fell from the sky, and there was an explosion earlier, plus they taste of alien energy.:_ She told him, not really paying attention to where everything else was except to avoid it. When the pod started to give out a soft white glow, she almost dropped it in surprise. "What…?" Looking around, Daria found Ronlyn standing near her holding the door open, staring at the pod.

"It-It did that earlier, Lady Herald." Ronlyn said, tearing his eyes away from the pod. "I don't know why, but when I 'pproached it, it glowed like that."

Daria frowned, opening herself to the magic and blinked at what she saw, almost dropping her Sight. The almost dormant alien magic that she had sensed in the pod not quarter of a candle-mark ago was now awake and reaching for the boy.

_:Interesting.:_ Nath commented in the back of her mind. _:The magic that infuses it reacts to the boy. I think you should let me talk to him.:_ He told her.

_:Yes but why would it react to the boy that way?:_ Daria asked. Why would an alien… _something_ react to one of Valdemar's citizens that way? Was it just that he had been the first one it 'saw' after landing or was it something else?

Nath rippled his hide in a shrug, looking through the open door at his Chosen. _:I don't know, Chosen.:_ He said. _:That is why I want to talk to the boy.:_

Nodding slightly, Daria turned to Ronlyn. "Ronlyn, would you mind joining us for a few minutes please?" She asked, putting the pod in the saddlebag. She would let the mages at the Collegium in Haven have a look at it, for now it needed to be out of sight, especially given the way it was glowing, better not to attract ay more attention than necessary.

"Lady?" Ronlyn asked, not exactly sure just what she wanted.

"Come outside for a few minutes Ronlyn." Daria said, guiding him towards her Companion when he reluctantly agreed. "Ronlyn, this is Nath, my Companion." She introduced him. "Nath, this is Ronlyn, the one that found these objects."

Nath nodded to Ronlyn, then reached out and gently inserted himself into the boy's mind, capturing his attention as he probed carefully. What he found surprised him. The boy had some Gifts, nothing too unusual — Mind Speech and a bit of Fetching — except one, which Nath couldn't identify, it seemed to be some sort of magic combined with the skin-shaping part of a Healer's power, only focused on himself. Probing deeper, Nath reared back physically and mentally. At the boy's core was something very like what he had found at Daria's core, the part of her soul that had drawn him to her, that had brought about his Choice of her over half a decade ago. It was that that was drawing the magic of the pod to wakefulness, and it also seemed to be reaching out to something otherworldly at the same time.

Withdrawing from Ronlyn's mind, Nath shook his head. That had been severely odd. Looking at the boy, who was still staring off into the distance, Nath nudged him to go back inside and forget the specifics of what had just happened when he returned to himself.

Watching Ronlyn walk back inside and close the door, Daria arched an eyebrow at Nath. "So what just happened?" She asked.

_:The magic you sense… it reacted to the same thing that makes you a Herald.:_ Nath said, sounding as if he was trying to feel his way around things that he didn't understand. That was something new for a Companion since most tried to act as if they knew almost everything. Of course, most of the time the 'almost everything' applied to things within Valdemar or at most in Velgarth, the pod was most definitely not of either and was outside any Companion's experience that Nath knew about.

That surprised Daria. "You mean that this thing actually actively seeks out the type of people that are Heralds?" She asked, moving to tie the saddlebag to Nath's saddle before mounting up.

Nath rippled his hide in a shrug. _:I don't know, but if I'm right, we should take young Ronlyn to Haven with us.:_ He said, flicking his ears back towards his Herald. _:Especially if it reacts to whatever _makes_ a Herald, and from the way it reacts, I think that something is making these to do something, and it chooses those that can be Heralds… maybe there's more with potential out there that we don't know about.:_ He said as he made his way towards the inn where the pair of them were staying.

"You mean this pod does the same job as you Companions to those winged lizards I saw when I cast my spell on it?" Daria asked, watching Nath's ears.

Nath shrugged again. _:I don't know, but possibly.:_ He said, flicking his tail as he walked, then what she had said penetrated and he turned to look at her. _:And what 'winged lizards'?:_ He asked.

Now it was Daria's turn to shrug. "When I cast a spell to try to find out a bit more about the objects I saw things that looked similar to the _Hertasi_ that live in the Kaled'a'in embassy, except taller and with manes and wings." She explained, shifting slightly to balance on his back as he moved. "I also saw something else, then the boy. I think that the objects were being put in somewhere when I saw the dog-faced thing, and obviously the boy was when he found them earlier today."

Nath frowned, continuing towards the inn. _:I think we should take the boy to Haven with us.:_ He said, flicking his tail. _:I also think that we should put it to the Circle that there might be others who do the same work as Heralds beyond the sky and that one or more might be here, since I doubt that those artefacts got here by themselves.:_ He said.

* * *

She had hidden her fighter in a cave and packed what supplies it had carried along with the pod that would, eventually, become her armour into a backpack. She also had the remaining pistol strapped to her thigh since it was a weapon and beyond her claws and teeth, she hadn't had anything else on this flight. Walking along the road, Jacinth flicked her tail slowly. It would be faster to fly, but until the armour, which responded to her presence by glowing grey and white, had bonded itself to her, she didn't want to risk it. Even in a pre-industrial world, there were weapons that could take her out of the sky.

The possibility of trouble was also why she was still wearing the majority of her flight suit. It wasn't much, but at least it offered her some protection should she run into trouble, and this wasn't her parents' home world of Rentaarii, which, apart from a near war about fifty years ago, had been peaceful and quiet. Well, except for the males of her species going through puberty.

Running a hand through her mane, Jacinth sighed softly. Puberty would be hitting her again soon enough most likely. Back on the _Tempest_ she had taken a male to her bed when her heat had started, they were friends still, but didn't have any time to spend together, and the second stage would be coming up, meaning shedding. She grimaced, that was not going to be half as fun as the heat had been.

Looking around slowly as she walked along the road, heading more or less north east. The fighter had said that there was a town or city or _something_ of that type along this way, of course what she would find when she got there was open for a great deal of debate considering that her fighter hadn't been able to give her much information on this backwater world.

Frowning as she looked north again, trying to ignore the gathering darkness, she spotted a smallish building up ahead. With a bit of luck, maybe she would be able to reach it before true night fell. The problem was knowing what kind of reception she would encounter there. Quickening her pace, she made for the structure, managing to reach it just before it got too dark for her to see.

Drawing her pistol, she gripped it carefully in one hand before opening the door from the side. One thing she had been taught was not to stand where she could be hit when entering unknown buildings. What she found when she did go inside wasn't what she had expected at all. The building was a single room, with what looked like various supplies stored inside… and a horse. Moving carefully, she checked the rest of the area before holstering the pistol and moving back into the only room, frowning at the horse, which ignored her. What the hell was a horse doing without an owner in an out of the way place like this?

Well, as long as it didn't try anything, she wasn't going to complain, at least as long as its owner didn't come back in the middle of the night. Dropping her pack on the bed, Jacinth sat down with a tired sigh and opened it to dig out some of the rations she had packed before leaving her fighter. Setting them on the bed, she went hunting through the building until she found wood piled neatly in one corner and took some of it to start a fire. Sitting back on the bed once the fire was going, Jacinth started preparing the food to cook, not noticing the horse staring at her.

Civa stared. She couldn't help it; the last thing she had expected to run into whilst on Search for a Herald of her own was this black scaled, white haired creature that was cooking food over the fire it had set in the way station's fire pit. The creature looked something like the _Hertasi_ that worked around the palace and Collegium complex, except it was bigger, and obviously the wrong colours. What the heck was it?

Flicking her tail as she waited for the food to cook, Jacinth ran a hand through her mane. One thing she really needed, besides knowing where the hell that other pistol and armour pod had gotten to, was a map of this country, preferably a good one so she knew where she was. Frowning at the food, she thought. Someone had built this place and stocked it, presumably for travellers, but the question was, who used it? Besides the horse in the corner… she looked over at it in time to see it turn away from her. Besides it, there didn't seem to be anyone around. She frowned. Someone had tacked it up though, but from what she could tell by firelight, that had been a while ago.

She had been caught, and she knew it. Civa flicked an ear at the sound of the creature's tail rubbing against the bed as it flicked. Great. Now what was she supposed to do? Playing horse was probably out. She sniffed the air and snorted softly. It had a predator's scent, which would probably mean that most — ordinary — horses would have run a mile by now; especially with the predator cooking behind them. Flicking her ears back, she listened to the lizard. It was an odd thing, ignoring her, especially given as far as most people were concerned she was a valuable animal to sell, at least to the ones that didn't recognise a Companion when they saw her.

The problem was that the other Heralds needed to know about this creature, and she was still on Search. No doubt when the Grove-Born heard about her, he would want to hear everything and probably in person. Civa looked back again as the lizard got something out of the pack, which glowed as she held it in her hands. That was another problem… Civa Reached out towards it and shivered at the feel of alien magic, magic that seemed to reach out for the lizard with a mix of protective and proprietary feeling tingeing it. Great, that thing was protective of the lizard and contained magic that Civa hadn't even seen before. The Grove-Born really needed to know about this.

Flicking another glance back at the lizard, as it put the pod thing down to deal with food, Civa sighed softly and Reached for the nearest Companion she knew of to relay to Haven. The others needed to know about the creature behind her and its magic.

* * *

When he heard from Civa, Nath snorted to himself. Standing in the stables at the Shadowed Hawk inn, he found it hard to be surprised about the fact that the younger mare had run into at least one alien. Civa was a Companion, and it was impossible to lie mind-to-mind, which were two reasons why he believed her, the other being that Daria had taken the saddlebag containing the artefacts she had picked up earlier today up to her room with her.

_:Figures.:_ He muttered, listening to what Civa reported. The younger Companion hadn't described the creature in detail, but it sounded vaguely like the winged lizards that Daria had seen when she cast the past sight spell on the artefacts, and the glowing pod sounded familiar as well.

The other Companion sharing the stable with him looked over at him. _:What does?:_ Dare asked, flicking his tail.

Nath shrugged his hide. _:That things show up linking to what we had already found.:_ He said. Seeing Dare's look, he shrugged again. _:I was about to report the artefacts Daria picked up to Haven, along with what I found probing the boy, Ronlyn, and Civa Called me to say she was at a way station a ways down towards the mountains and a creature like one of the ones Daria Saw came in, with a pod like the one Daria has.:_ He said, flicking his tail slowly.

Dare snorted. _:Remind me to kick the person that told me to live in interesting times.:_ He said.

Nath just snorted, relaying the things he had found back to Haven via the other Companions along the route.

* * *

When the morning came, Jacinth gathered her things and left the building she had spent the night in, her wings held close against her back. She hadn't spent a particularly comfortable night between the bed being made for humans, worrying over the missing equipment and the horse staring at her, which was what it was doing now. Muttering something to herself, she flicked her tail, wishing she dared fly. What was it about that damned horse anyway?

Watching the odd creature leave, Civa frowned. The lizard had spent a rough night over something, she had heard it tossing and turning through the night, and now it held its wings defensively. She flicked her ears and turned back to her Search. The lizard wasn't really a threat to anyone out here, and the others had been warned, right now, she had other things to deal with.

Glancing back and seeing the horse turn away, Jacinth sighed in relief. She didn't know what it was, especially since she was used to being around things like unicorns, but that horse set her teeth on edge. Following the road as it wound more or less north east, she wondered just what _else_ lived on this backwater of a planet.

Making her way down the road, Civa tried to figure out just what had put the lizard's back up. Obviously it was the only one locally, and from what Nath had said last night, that pod thing it had was one of a pair, the other reacting to some boy in Freeland, and he had passed word along to the Circle, so at least their people knew about the stranger and the 'artefacts' as Nath had called them.

Walking along the road, Jacinth flicked her tail slowly, hiking her pack higher on her shoulders. This really wasn't what her parents had thought would happen for her first proper mission in her training. Of course, neither had she. Now she was stranded on Rhyl'seer Four, at least the scenery was fairly nice, even if the company she had had so far had rubbed her scales the wrong way. Maybe she should get some range on that horse, even at the risk of getting shot at. Flicking her tail, she looked behind her, then stretched her wings out, flapping them a few times before jumping into the air.

She had gone probably a league at the ground eating lope that Companions could sustain for hours when her Call finally came, pulling her in the opposite direction to the one she was heading so hard that it nearly made her flip over physically. Skidding to a stop, Civa blinked in confusion, looking back the way she had come. Someone in that direction was the one she was Searching for, but who was it? Closing her eyes, she focused on the Call, trying to get _something_ on where it was coming from.

There was a flash of feeling, wind over wings, streaming over her face and through her mane, and a name. Jacinth. Civa blinked, shaking her head. There was only one thing that _she_ knew of that had both a mane _and_ wings, and that was the lizard creature she had left behind, which had, incidentally been going in the opposite direction to her. She felt like a dozen kinds of idiot for letting the stranger simply go off by itself, _now_ she had to chase it down to Choose it. Slight problem being that it could fly, which meant it could probably out pace her. Sighing, Civa turned around and started back the other way. Hopefully she would find it before night fell again. The problem was, what to do if she couldn't? For all Civa knew, this Jacinth thing could well have flown from somewhere beyond the stars and could stay on the wing for months, if not longer, meaning she might end up chasing it across the planet. What a damn mess.

* * *

Flicking his tail, Nath waited patiently while Daria tacked him up. The pair of them had to go back to Haven to deliver the artefacts that Ronlyn had found the previous day, and take the boy along with them since one of the artefacts reacted to him and the Circle and Herald Mages wanted to try to discover just what the thing was and why it reacted the way it did.

There was also the matter of the odd creature that Civa had encountered, which was probably the reason the artefacts were here in the first place. Civa hadn't known much about it, except it was black, with a white mane and carried another of the pod-like artefacts with it, which reacted to it the same way the one Daria was loading in his saddle bag did to Ronlyn.

"You're quiet today, Nath." Daria said, looking up from where she was tying supply packs onto the saddle for the journey back to Haven. "Is something wrong?" She asked.

_:Not wrong, just… odd.:_ Nath replied, flicking his tail slowly.

Daria arched an eyebrow at him, as she finished up with the packs. "What do you mean 'odd'?" She asked.

He grimaced, his ears lying flat. Nath recognised the slight intonation in his Chosen's voice, which said that he had better be forthcoming if he expected to get the treats he liked. _:There's a Companion out on Search that encountered one of your aliens.:_ He said.

"What?!" Daria gaped. "Where?"

_:At the way station a few days out of town.:_ Nath replied. He looked back at Daria and grimaced again, she had that look on her face, the one that went along with the flat tone that said he wouldn't be getting anything unless he spilled. _:Last I heard, it was spending the night there, it might've left by now.:_

"And you didn't wake me up so we could try to get to it for morning?" Daria asked flatly, scowling at her Companion. She didn't know what exactly he thought he was doing, but it would be a hell of a lot easier if they could find this alien and at least _try_ to talk to it.

Nath sighed. _:Daria, even at my best speed, I wouldn't have gotten there for days.:_ He told her gently. _:And it apparently has wings, so I presume it can fly, who knows how fast it can move in the air or how long it can stay up there?:_ He rippled his hide in a shrug. _:And the Circle ordered us to get Ronlyn and go back to Haven, someone else gets to deal with your alien for the time being.:_ He informed her.

She sighed. If the circle had decided that she had to get Ronlyn and the alien artefacts back to Haven, then that was what she had to do. "Alright," She said, giving up. "Let's get the boy and get back to Haven."

* * *

She had been flying for hours and had already passed over one town, well, more of a small village really, at least by her standards and had finally found the road again. Circling around, Jacinth dropped lower, beating her wings to slow her flight. Right now the last thing she wanted was a hard landing, especially since she was already aching from flying for so long.

Flicking her tail, she back winged as she came in to land, the muscles in her legs taking the impact when she touched down with a grunt. Stretching her wings slowly, she furled them against her back, wincing as they ached. She still didn't have a damn clue where she was on this planet, or where the nearest proper town was. At least with a _road_ she could find her way _somewhere_. One end or the other would have to be at a town's gates, most likely there would be villages along the route as well.

Moving to the side of the road, Jacinth found herself a tree and sat under it, taking off her pack to lean against the tree. Pulling it onto her lap, she opened her pack and dug out some of the trail rations, starting to eat them slowly.

Listening to the sounds of the wildlife that lived along the road she tried to remember just what creatures might be found on a world like this. From what she could recall from her biology lessons aboard the _Tempest_, most life bearing planets would have a food chain that started with plants and worked through herbivores and carnivores to scavengers. The question was, what was where? Obviously horses were living on this planet, since she had encountered one, and they were generally herbivores from what she knew.

Something had built the towns around and the building she had spent the night in, and it certainly wasn't horses since they didn't have hands. Flicking her tail, she sighed, still trying to identify the sounds she was hearing.

When she heard the sound of hooves on stone, Jacinth scrambled up and quickly gathered her things before clambering up the tree to hide in its branches. Hopefully it wasn't that damned horse from last night.

Lying on one of the branches, she watched over the road, waiting to see just what was coming. Several minutes later, she watched a horse and cart trundle along the road, and studied the one driving it. Human. She recognised the species from the ship. If those were here, Jacinth needed to expect trouble, since from what she knew, they were capable of causing more than any race on her parents' home world of Rentaarii.

Jacinth frowned, keeping her tail still as she watched the cart pass her by. This world was supposed to be pre-industrial, which was why there wasn't the pall of smoke over the world that _Tempest_ showed over such worlds. Still… compared to the things she was used to, the horse and cart that had passed her seemed primitive.

She waited in the tree until the man had passed and gone on down the road. Right now, while she wanted to get in contact with the people of this world, doing so by way of scaring some farmer or cowherd out of his wits wasn't how she wanted to do it. Finding someone in an army or something was more how she wanted to do it, because generally they knew things and had more authority than a ploughman.

Once the man had gone, Jacinth climbed down from her perch, flicking her tail. So there were humans at least on this planet. Humans and horses. That meant that there were probably some form of plant or animal giving them raw fibres for clothing, probably several types, and there had to be some type of animal that they skinned, since they needed skin for leather. Checking to make sure she still had everything, Jacinth started off after the human. With any luck he would go on ahead of her without knowing about her, and would point her in the direction of a good sized settlement that would let her find someone with some authority to speak to.

* * *

Still muttering at herself mentally, Civa cut cross country, her tail flicking as she ducked under the low hanging tree limbs. It was just her luck that her Chosen would have to be a ruddy alien and not only that but one with wings which meant that it could out manoeuvre a Companion like her.

Slowing from the headlong run she had been going at, she panted harshly. Maybe Civa should've Called ahead and asked any Companions along her Chosen's path to try to get the thing to stop, without putting themselves in danger. Her Chosen was a predator, after all, and probably had claws and teeth, plus it likely didn't understand their language.

Civa scowled at the brush that was slowing her down as she made her way around it. Maybe asking them to stop it wasn't such a good idea after all, since it could hurt Heralds, not realising what they were trying to do, and there was the problem of those artefacts. Who knew just what they actually were besides her alien Chosen. Of course, the Circle would be trying to find out, once Nath and his Chosen made it to Haven, but it would be much faster to ask the one that had brought them. _If_ they could figure out how to understand it that was, since most likely it wouldn't speak their language.

Sighing, Civa flicked her tail, keeping to a trot. She needed to find her Chosen and get it to Haven, and with the way her thoughts were going the only way that could safely be accomplished was to find it and make her Choice. Everything depended on her finding the lizard-like alien that her Call was pulling her towards, but she was in a tail chase that wasn't likely to end any time soon. A tail chase with what was probably a very nasty predator that might decide it preferred to remain a predator instead of being prey. Lovely.

* * *

"But why do you need me?" Ronlyn asked, shifting on his horse. Considering that this was the furthest he had been from Freeland in his life and he was travelling with a Herald and going to the capital city of Haven, he wanted to know just what was going on.

Daria shifted to look at the boy. "Two reasons, the first of which being your relationship to these artefacts." She said, indicating the saddlebag tied onto Nath's saddle that contained the artefacts Ronlyn had found the previous day. "The other being something Nath found when he looked at you after the pod started glowing yesterday." She told him.

Ronlyn blinked. "About me?" He asked, his voice rising on the last word. What about him? Something to do with the pod-thing and why it glowed around him? What?

She nodded. "From what Nath said, the same thing that makes me a Herald draws the pod to you." At least that was how she understood what Nath had told her of what he had found out. They were talking about some kind of alien technology here and they didn't even know what the thing was actually supposed to do, let alone anything else.

_:Maybe we'll get lucky and find the alien Civa encountered before we reach Haven and it can tell us what these things are.:_ Nath put in, flicking his ears as an insect tried to land on them. The big problem was that they didn't actually know where said alien was, since Civa hadn't said anything more since she had contacted him last night, and Valdemar adopted an open door policy with regards to immigrants. Of course they still had to agree to follow the law of the land. Unfortunately Civa's silence meant that no one else knew just where she or the alien were.

Daria snorted, giving the back of his head a Look. _:Yeah well, maybe if you'd told me when she called, we would be closer and more likely to find the alien.:_ She told him mentally, her mind voice tinged with annoyance.

Nath pinned his ears flat against his head, twitching his tail. _:I was told not to.:_ He said, giving the impression of a grimace. _:And who says we'd be able to understand it even __**with**__ Mind Speech. It might be as hard to Hear as a bird for anyone without Animal Mind Speech, and think completely differently to us.:_ Of course the only way to find out if that was true or not was to find the alien and try doing it. Something else they needed to do, if or when they managed to both find and establish communications with it, find out how in the Nine Hells it had gotten here from wherever it was from originally.

"How could I be a Herald?" Ronlyn asked, confused. Yes he had sometimes dreamed of being a Herald, but… he wasn't Herald material. He was a farmer's son and spent most of the day grubbing dirt, not exactly the sort of thing that made a Herald from the tales he had read. "And what 'alien'?" He asked having caught a few bits and pieces of the mental conversation.

Nath and Daria shared a shocked look. Ronlyn was only twelve; he shouldn't be able to hear Mind Speech yet, certainly not private conversations between a Herald and her Companion. "How did you know about the alien?" Daria asked, turning to study Ronlyn.

He shrugged uncomfortably. "You said yourself yesterday that these things were alien." Ronlyn said. "Wouldn't it make sense that there's an alien around that might be looking for them?" He remembered that much from the previous day's conversation when Herald-Mage Daria had been called in to examine the objects he had brought home.

Daria frowned at Ronlyn, making him shift uncomfortably under her gaze. She didn't believe that that was all it was, since he had asked 'what alien?' rather than 'what about aliens?' Still, Mind Speech came around puberty, and usually stress caused it to blossom more quickly. "You asked 'what alien?'" She said. "All I said yesterday was that the artefacts were of alien origin. There is a difference between the two."

"I… err… I heard you say something about an alien?" He asked looking down at where his hands were clasped on the pommel of his horse's saddle, the bay mare walking along with Nath as they headed to the capital city of Haven.

Daria shook her head. "Looks like we might need to teach you the very basics of Mind Speech control if that's happening." She said, rubbing Nath's neck. "Because that conversation was not only private but in Mind Speech, which means you shouldn't have been able to hear it." She sighed, running a hand through her hair. Great. She wasn't a teacher and yet now she had to teach the boy how to control Mind Speech? Lovely.

Ronlyn looked at her in confusion. "Mind Speech?" He asked.

Daria nodded. "It's one of the Gifts that Heralds have and it's why we can talk to both each other and our Companions without being heard." She explained briefly. Mind Speech was a lot more complex than that, and, without proper training could lead to insanity or even death just as easily and quickly as the other Mind Gifts both Heralds and others had.

"But… why me?" He asked.

Daria shrugged. "It's something that you're born with, you either have it or don't. You are obviously one of the ones born with it…"

_:And some need to be hit over the head with it before they believe it.:_ Nath put in dryly, rolling one eye back to look at his Herald, who just snorted at him and thumped his shoulder. _:Ow.:_ He muttered, twitching his hide.

Daria snorted again. "You deserved it grass eater." She said.

Nath snorted at her, flicking his tail. He was about to say something in response to that, but was cut off by the sound of a scream somewhere down the road. It as quickly followed by a roar and several yells. _:Now what?:_ Nath asked, flicking his ears forward. Something was happening up there and it didn't sound good.

Daria shrugged. "I don't know, but we'd better find out." She said, before turning to Ronlyn. "Ronlyn stay behind me." She ordered, nudging Nath into a gallop towards the commotion.

* * *

Jacinth followed the human along the road until he turned off to go into a group of buildings a little way from the main road that they had been following to this point. There wasn't really much point going that way and scaring the man's family, since most likely the human hadn't seen anyone of her race before.

She hadn't gone more than ten paces down the road past the human's turn off when something ran into the back of her legs. Stumbling forward a few steps, Jacinth caught her balance again and turned to see what had run into her. Looking down, she blinked. She had been expecting an animal, probably whatever filled the role of helper/carnivore to the humans around here, and not a human child younger than her, who shrieked as it looked up at her.

The sound of running feet on the road made Jacinth look up in time to see several people coming towards her. Flicking her tail, she started edging towards the edge of the road, intending on hiding in the fields along it. She stopped when the child, who had turned at the sound of the approaching humans, yelped and darted around behind her, holding onto her legs. "What…?" Something really wasn't right here. Not only was the hatchling out on the road, but it was choosing _her_ over its own kind? Drawing her pistol, Jacinth pointed it down and to the side, her tail flicking. This looked like trouble.

Feeling the quivering body of the hatchling behind her, Jacinth watched the humans draw closer. Even at this distance, they look a lot rougher and warlike than chasing a runaway child should require. Of course, she had seen her parents still in armour when they came to her some times — usually after something bad had happened — but these… "_Hold and identify._" She called, coiling her tail around the hatchling.

The humans slowed, and the nearest one raised a sword, saying something in a tongue she couldn't understand, but guessed it translated to something like: "kill the beast" or "take the child". Closer to, they looked even worse, their armour more than half patches and scars covering most of their exposed skin. "_Guess that means no._" Jacinth muttered, raising her pistol and aiming at the nearest man. Squeezing the trigger, she watched as the man's head exploded in a spray of boiled brain matter. Infra-red lasers, great for fast kills, and damn near impossible to see the bolts from, unless you could see in that spectrum, making it look magical on some worlds.

Two more dropped just as quickly before the remaining three managed to get close enough to disarm Jacinth. Snarling, she ducked under a swing from a sword as her pistol went flying off into the field somewhere. Later, when this was finished, she would have to reclaim it. Assuming she wasn't lying beside these creeps. Lashing out with her claws, she felt them connect with something and smiled grimly before yelping as a blade pierced her wing. Damn it! That bloody well hurt!

Growling, as she managed to avoid another swing, the blade passing close enough that she felt the wind from its passage, Jacinth punched one of the humans in the face, hard enough that his nose crunched to the side. The entire problem with fighting right now? The odds were three to one against her and a hatchling clinging to her knees. Okay, so that was _two_ problems. Jacinth was a bit busy to count. Lashing her tail, she hissed as a blade raked her side, retaliating by giving the sword's wielder a throat full of claws. At least the odds had dropped slightly.

The one that was still reeling from getting his nose broken dropped next, as Jacinth hammered a fist into his ribs, breaking them. There were tales aboard the ship that the original Knight had pulled that trick and managed to remove a person's heart out their back with it, but Jacinth wasn't that good. Flinching away from the blade that scored her side, she lashed out with her claws, managing to score a set of grooves down the last man's face as the one she had hit moments before coughed bloodily, trying to get his rather badly damaged lungs and heart to work.

When the last man finally fell, the second had coughed out his life already. Flicking her tail, Jacinth checked herself over, grimacing as the numerous wounds that marred her hide made themselves known. "Ow…" She grumbled, and sighed at the state of her flight suit. Great! The suit was probably worth more than everything these six scumbags had on them, weapons included. There was also the hatchling… Squirming around, Jacinth looked down at the back of her legs to find the hatchling still holding on there like a limpet. Flicking her tail, she coiled it gently around the hatchling. She didn't even know what gender it was!

"_Easy there hatchling._" Jacinth said gently, carefully prising herself away from the young human and kneeling in front of it. "_The bad men are dead now._" She said gently, the coughing as the hatchling flung its arms around her neck, holding tightly.

When the hatchling babbled at her in an unknown language, Jacinth sighed and shook her head. She didn't have a clue what the hatchling was saying since it was probably speaking the child's version of the local tongue and she didn't even know what the local tongue was, much less anything else.

Picking the child up Jacinth nosed it gently before turning towards the farm. "_Come on hatchling, let's take you home before anyone else comes looking for you._" She stopped when the hatchling squirmed, babbling something in that alien tongue it used. Looking at it, she cocked her head. "What?" She asked.

The child babbled again, pointing at the dead men, then at the farm. Jacinth frowned, flicking her tail as she watched the hatchling repeat the motions, babbling something. "_More of these scum on the farm?_" She asked slowly, getting a blank stare. Sighing, Jacinth pointed at the dead humans. _"There are more of them, there?_" She asked slowly, pointing at the farm. This time she got a jerk of the head in response, which she guessed meant yes. If that was really the case, then the human she had followed was probably in trouble. Making a choice, she started towards the farm, ignoring the hatchling's protests as she moved to find somewhere to hide it.

* * *

Civa whinnied as a sharp pain lanced across her back. What. The. Hell?! Flicking her ears, she skidded to a stop again, flinching as another slash opened on her flank. Panting in shock, she flicked her tail, rolling one eye to look back at herself as she felt blood start oozing down her flank.

Wincing at the sight of the cut on her ribs, she looked around, trying to figure out what had just cut her. Pain, hot and sharp scored her lower foreleg like a poker. Now she knew that there wasn't anything that had caused _that_ wound. Looking down at it, she snorted. Especially not since it looked like a cut from an edged weapon.

Frowning, Civa closed her eyes and looked inside herself, trying to find where these wounds were appearing from.

She almost fell out of her self induced trance when another line scored across her shoulder, quickly followed by the impression of fighting fang and claw against a man with a sword and a youngling behind her. Shaking herself out of her trance, Civa blinked. That had been her Chosen… Jacinth. And it… she had been fighting, trying to protect a human youngling. She needed help. Now!

Muttering a choice mental curse, Civa almost bolted in the direction she had been going, following her Call. Her Chosen was in trouble and needed help, and deserved it given why she needed the help.

* * *

She had managed to hide the hatchling in one of the outbuildings around the farm and was currently trying to sneak over towards where there was a group of humans gathered in what was probably some type of communal yard in the middle of the farm. Pausing in the shadows, Jacinth studied the group in the yard, frowning. In reality there were probably too many for her to go into close quarter battle with them. While she was good, she was no infantry-woman, and they were a hell of a lot better than a pilot like her. Plus she was only twelve!

Shifting slightly so she could see better, Jacinth moved out of the shadows, and winced as someone screamed. Not good. In fact things looked to be very, very bad. Sighing, Jacinth took a good look at the people that were now staring at a screaming human — probably female given the long hair and lighter build than the males she had encountered earlier — and roared, drawing attention to herself as she dashed out of her shelter towards the nearest of the rough looking ones.

Hearing the yells from the humans, Jacinth leapt forward, raking her claws across an exposed arm, and rolled as she landed on hard packed soil. Hearing a clang behind her, she risked a glance back at the one she had scored, and saw him holding his arm as his blade vibrated on the ground near him.

Coming back to her feet, she lashed out at the nearest of the armed men, trying to find a way around his guard. Taking a hit from the side, she hissed, flinching away from the attack. Muttering a choice curse, Jacinth tried to lash out at the one that had attacked her, managing to score a solid hit on him before being forced away by another. She was in trouble, and knew it. Get her in a cockpit and she was pretty good, on the ground though… she flinched as a blade scored her ribs, drawing her back to the present.

Lashing out again, she hissed as a blade bit into her arm. Pulling her wounded arm in close to her side, Jacinth growled. Dodging attacks from her opponents and striking back as she could, she backed away slowly. Unfortunately there were five of them and one of her, letting them cut her off and forced her back as she took hit after hit.

Taking a vicious blow to the head, Jacinth collapsed, barely conscious when one of the other humans stopped the ones attacking her. The pain from her wounds was too much for her to register as the humans stripped her and dumped her next to their captives. All she could hear was a ringing in her ears and a small voice yelling at her to hang on.

* * *

They had arrived too late to stop the initial battle, and now Daria was crouched next to one of the dead brigands on the road, studying him. From what she could tell, his throat had been torn open by claws. Two of the others had similar wounds, but the other three… they looked like something had exploded within them. It made her wonder just what sort of power the alien — since this was most likely its work — was actually capable of.

Standing, she dusted off the knees of her whites, the Heralds' uniform and looked around frowning. The scream that they had heard earlier had sounded female, but there wasn't a female around here, meaning that either the alien had taken her or… she stopped, staring at the farm off the main road. Or the alien had tracked these people back and found something else at the farm there.

Looking around, she saw Ronlyn knelt in the field by the side of the road. She didn't want to leave him out here alone, but she also didn't want to take him into the trouble that was likely waiting at the farm if her guess was correct.

_:It seems that someone took exception to whatever these bandits were trying to do.:_ Nath said, sniffing around the dead bodies. _:I wonder what happened here.:_

Daria shrugged. "If the alien is still alive and we can find it, maybe we'll be able to ask it." She said, moving over to where Ronlyn was kneeling in the field. "Find something?" She asked him, squatting next to him.

He nodded carefully picking up something that looked remarkably like the item he had found under the pod. "I think the alien had this one and lost it in the fight." Ronlyn said, shifting carefully. "But… I don't know why it didn't come back for it." He said, offering it to Daria.

She frowned studying the metal crossbow-thing. It was very similar to the one in Nath's saddlebag. "Maybe because things haven't been resolved yet." Daria said, getting up and pointing towards the farm. "The alien might have gone to the farm, which means we have to follow it."

Getting to his feet, Ronlyn nodded. "Then shouldn't we find out what it's after?" He asked softly. Considering he had been the one to find the alien's artefacts, he felt some responsibility for it wandering around, especially if it was looking for them.

Daria nodded, turning as she heard hoof beats, she blinked at the sight of a Companion running almost flat out towards them, blood streaming from several open wounds. "Now what?" She muttered, starting towards the wounded Companion.

Seeing the Herald and her Companion coming towards her, Civa slowed her headlong run slightly. _Her_ Chosen was still in trouble, she knew, because she could Feel Jacinth fighting for consciousness in the back of her mind. Still, if the Herald was here, at least she could help.

Now that the other Companion was closer, Nath could see who it was, and he wondered what had happened to her, since she looked like she had been in a brawl with several swordsmen. _:Civa!?:_ He asked, flicking his tail as he stared at her. _:What in the hells happened to you?:_ He asked her as she slowed further, panting as what was probably a long run caught up with her, especially since she had been several days out from Freeland when he had last talked to her.

Walking towards the Herald and Companion, Civa panted harshly, trying to get her breathing under control. Considering she had run all the way across country to try to find her Chosen, she had a right to be exhausted. _:My Chosen:_ She said, pinning her ears flat when Nath snorted. _:She didn't do this, she's in trouble and her wounds… fed back to me somehow…. I don't know how, but I know who and where.:_ She said, raising her head as her breathing slowed.

Nath cocked his head at her, relaying that to Daria, and feeling her concern about this new Herald. _:So who is your Chosen and where is she?:_ He asked Civa gently.

Civa sighed. _:She's on the farm.:_ She said, flicking her tail. _:Her name's Jacinth and:_ she pinned her ears back flat against her skull, this next bit was really going to go down well…. _:And she's the alien.:_ She said.

Nath blinked. _:Did you say your Call is pointing you at the alien?:_ He asked, incredulous. When Civa nodded morosely, he snorted, trying to hold back the semi-hysterical laughter that was trying to burst forth. The fact that Civa had spent the night with the alien and had, obviously, missed the chance to Choose it then, then had to chase it all this way was slightly funny… slightly like the Pelgars were 'slightly' weird.

Civa snorted at him, baring her teeth. While Nath was standing there laughing at her, her Chosen was lying on the floor unconscious and bleeding from numerous wounds, after trying to save people. _:If all you're going to do, Nath, is stand there and laugh, then get out of my way. I have a Chosen to save.:_ She growled at him mentally, stalking forward.

Backing up, Nath choked off his laughter. Civa was obviously serious about this, and Companions didn't Choose wrongly so something was up. Of course the big question was why a Companion would be pointed at an alien to their world. Watching her as she stalked, stiff legged, towards the farm, Nath shared a look with Daria before following her. Maybe they could deal with whatever was going on between them.

* * *

Crouching in the shadows near a building, Ronlyn looked out at the courtyard of the farm. The scene in front of him looked like something out of a bad story, except for the fact that it was obviously real. One of the men in the yard held a softly glowing pod in his hands, one that looked very similar to the one he had found from what he could see of it.

Scanning the scene, he spotted the alien. It stood out quite a bit with the odd black clothing and stark white hair, and the fact that it was guarded by two big men with swords. Frowning, he studied it as it lay there, unconscious or dead, he couldn't tell which. It looked like a big, winged lizard, except for the hair, and, for some reason, he got the impression that it was female, despite not being able to see anything at all to indicate one way or another, what gender it was.

It was only because he was actually watching the alien that he saw it twitch. Ronlyn blinked when it twitched again. Something was happening, but what he didn't know. When it twitched again, he frowned, then blinked as the soft glow he could see out of the corner of his eye from the pod thing that the one man held sharpened and brightened considerably, making him squint and causing several curses from the people in the courtyard.

Shielding his eyes from the glare, Ronlyn gasped as the alien moved its arm, planting its hand on the ground before doing the same with its other hand and pushing itself to its feet. It said a word and the glow flared even brighter before flying from the man to the alien and settling onto her, forcing him to look away. When it faded enough that he could look at the alien again, it was no longer a black lizard that stood there, but some kind of white carapace covered creature with lights glowing on its chest and in place of its eyes.

He watched as one of the swordsmen recovered and slashed at the armoured figure, only to have his blade caught in one gauntleted hand. The second arm came around quickly as the armoured figure stepped closer to the man and blood flew in the air as he fell away.

* * *

It was like watching as someone else controlled her body. That was the main thing that Jacinth noticed when she came back to the living world after giving the creature that had called to her through her dreams for so many years her oaths.

Seeing a blade coming at her from one of the two men that had been standing next to her, she had turned and caught it in one armoured hand before stepping close to him and slicing through his neck with one of the blades coming from the elbows of her armour, one representative of the graceful and deadly ridges of scales her parents had, and that she would get after shedding.

Even as his blood jetted into the air, Jacinth released the sword and spun back the other way, the same blade finding the cheek bone of the other swordsman that had been guarding her and punching through it into his brain.

Pulling the spike out of the man's head, she turned to face the remaining hostiles. Looked like a reload and replay time, except now she had real armour, not a flight suit that had already been shredded. "Let's try this again shall we?" Jacinth asked the air, moving forward carefully. "Leave these people alone or die." She snarled under her helmet. When one of the remaining swordsmen charged her, she sidestepped him and hammered a fist into his side, breaking several ribs. Letting him fall away, to lie choking on the ground, she turned back to the one that had taken her armour and stalked towards him.

The last pair of swordsmen attacked her at the same time, but only one of them made it to her, and he fell to a series of short jabs before catching a spine in the throat. Looking up at where the other had been coming from, Jacinth blinked, seeing the white horse from the previous night, except now with several wounds, some of which seemed to echo her own dancing on the man. Pushing the shock she felt aside, she turned back to the one that had taken her armour and stalked towards him, her tail lashing.

The man got up quickly, muttering something that she couldn't understand, but the horse seemed to, since it stopped dancing on the man it had downed and backed up rather quickly. The reason quickly became apparent as a swirling vortex of energy appeared by the man.

Growling, Jacinth moved forward, stopping when a horror from a madman's nightmare appeared from the vortex. A daemon. The last hostile human was a damned chaos spawned mage! She growled falling back as it advanced on her. She was a Knight, but she didn't have the wraith weapons that allowed them to face down the daemons and their kind. What she did have though, was probably _worse_ than they were, an Aspect, a being of Power that reached beyond that of a god. Snarling, she stopped, reaching inside herself. "_Eponous!_" She snapped, using the word to bridge the gap, closing her eyes briefly.

Werthrelon was only a lesser daemon, but even it knew what an Aspect was, so when its white armoured prey suddenly grew and changed into a winged, lizard-like humanoid made out of blazing white fire, it knew it was in trouble. Skidding to a stop, it shrieked at the Feel of such power in close proximity, then shrieked again as the being placed its hands together, a staff of the same white energy forming between them. Fifty years ago, the first beings that could do that trick had appeared on a planet where its lord had enjoyed feasting. The war hadn't lasted long, but the big gold that had led those fighting its kind had slaughtered many of them, and pulled off that trick itself.

Skittering around as the Aspect advanced on it, Werthrelon fell to all fours, terror marking its face as it bolted for the portal the mage had summoned it through, ignoring its 'master's' commands. Even at the risk of angering its king, it wasn't sticking around to find out if the stories that the survivors had brought back to their realm were true.

Following the daemon, Jacinth watched as it jumped back into the portal, despite the protests of the mage. When it had disappeared from sight, she lashed out with her staff, swiping it through the portal as it closed and causing something to scream before it hit the mage and ripped his soul out of his body. With the mage's death, the portal crashed shut behind the daemon.

Turning back to see the remaining living ones, including the horse, staring at her, Jacinth gave a self-conscious shrug and released the link to her Aspect, dropping to her knees as the exhaustion from handling so much power washed over her.

Civa gaped at her Chosen. Every time she turned around there was something completely different about Jacinth that was far beyond what she was used to. Hearing a rumbling chuckle in her mind, she shut her mouth with a snap and swallowed nervously, pawing the ground with one fore hoof. After seeing that, she wasn't sure how to proceed with Choosing her Herald, or even if Jacinth _was_ a Herald and not something completely new.

Swallowing again, Civa walked slowly towards Jacinth and sniffed at the armoured figure before, tentatively, nosing her. When the other female looked up, Civa Reached out to her. _:Jacinth, I am Civa, and I Choose you, out of all the world… worlds… to be my Herald.:_ She said softly.

Jacinth gave the horse an exhausted snort. Whatever a 'Herald' was, she couldn't, so far as she knew, be one _and_ be a Knight. "_Unless it's compatible, I'm gonna have to decline that job._" She said, flicking her tail slowly. "_I'm already a Knight._" She said tiredly.

Civa blinked. Was that babble supposed to mean something to her? Obviously whatever it was that Jacinth spoke, it was far from Valdemaran. Civa snorted to herself. Of course, that made sense considering Jacinth was an alien. Watching as the carapace retracted from her Chosen, Civa nosed Jacinth gently. The other female really needed rest given she looked more grey than black, and there were the wounds on both of them to deal with. _:Nath?:_ She asked, reaching out to the other Companion as one of the farmers moved cautiously forwards. _:Can you get your Herald down here, and ask have her ask someone for a place to sleep? My Chosen needs it, and a Healer.:_ She said, getting a mental confirmation as she blocked the man gently, shaking her head. Better not to have the farmer try something and get his hand bitten off.

When Daria arrived, with Ronlyn in tow, she quickly sent most of the people in the courtyard off to deal with getting a Healer, making a bed up in the stables — since Civa wouldn't be able to fit in the house, and was about the only way to communicate with the alien — sort out a burial detail and get water boiling before cornering the head of the household to find out just why these bandits had attacked here anyway, if he knew.

Approaching the female slowly, Ronlyn stopped far enough away that he wasn't going to get bitten and knelt down in front of the alien. "Um… hello?" He said, watching her. "I'm Ronlyn, who are you?"

Jacinth blinked at him in confusion. She didn't understand a word of what he had just said. The horse she had understood because it had talked into her mind, but the human? She didn't understand one word. Not one. Still, the one all in white seemed to be able to make people do things well enough so maybe she could just sleep for a bit. Well. She was calling it sleep, but from what vague memories she had from fights her ship had been in, it was probably closer to being unconscious. 'Sleeping for a while' really shouldn't be synonymous with 'passed out unconscious for days after falling flat on your snout'. Channelling an Aspect was a major bitch and burned reserves like the blazes!

Watching the one in white for a little longer, Jacinth wobbled before falling forwards into unconsciousness. Whatever was going to happen now could wait until she was awake to deal with it.

Ronlyn was the first to react when Jacinth collapsed. Moving forward quickly, he caught her barely off the ground and lowered her gently to it, making sure that nothing was blocking her snout. He didn't know what had just happened, but given that the alien was still breathing, he guessed she was unconscious and needed rest. Who wouldn't after what he had just seen it do?


	2. To Haven

Disclaimer

Valdemar, Velgarth and anything else from that world belong to Mercedes Lackey. The Knights and characters, save the Grove-born, belong to me

Reviewers

**Warbender** — Thanks, here's the next chapter. One thing to note though, Stoneface is dead in my timeline, has been for decades. Besides, I've got someone — namely the original Knight — who makes him look tame

**hping** — Tryin' to.

**Angelnot** — This isn't primarily an Aliens/Valdemar cross, since the xenos aren't really mentioned, though there may be some xeno characters later, it's mostly the events on Valdemar after having a Knight drop in.

**Kalush** — Here's more

**Balecka92** — Not quite, and something to think about, every one the dyheli have transmitted language to has been the same species as the one they're taking it from. With two different species involved things are a bit more complex, since mouth forms and tongue movements don't necessarily translate well.

**sparkyCSI** — Thanks for that, I'm glad you like it.

* * *

Civa flicked her tail, watching over her unconscious Chosen. That was one problem down, but two more had come up in its place. The big one right at the moment being how they were going to communicate with it, granted most Heralds and all Companions had Mind Speech, which would allow them to talk to Jacinth mentally, but the majority of the populace didn't and they wouldn't understand the growls, barks, chirrs and such for language any more than Jacinth could understand Valdemaran.

Making an expression something like a scowl, she flicked her tail. The key was probably in the Mind Speech, and Civa did remember tales of some Heralds getting language through it. The problem was, how did she go about doing it?

Maybe she needed to talk to Nath about it, see if he knew what — exactly — needed to be done in order to be done to actual transfer language, if it was possible.

Nuzzling the little girl that had, apparently, been the one Jacinth had shielded and had taken up residence on the older female's bed, Civa headed outside to find Nath.

When she found Nath in one of the fields near the farm, she walked up to him. _:Nath, I've… got a problem with my Chosen. One that will affect us all.:_ She said as he looked up at her.

_:What? Another one?:_ Nath asked, arching an eyebrow at her, his ears flicking forward.

Civa snorted. _:Ha ha. Very funny.:_ She said, giving him a flat look. _:We still have the language problem. Namely my Chosen doesn't speak Valdemaran and since she's the alien, who here would speak her language?:_ She frowned, flicking her tail at an annoying fly. _:I… vaguely, remember stories of a Karsite Herald that came to Valdemar just before the Tedrel Wars, and… some of the Tayledras' allies managed to do something to let people understand one another.:_ She said, flicking her tail.

Nath frowned, flicking his tail idly. _:I think… Kantor gave his Herald a working knowledge of Valdemaran, about a hundred years ago.:_ He said finally. The story was that Weapons master Alberich was the first big name Herald out of Karse and Companion Kantor had rescued him from a Fire of Cleansing in time for him to help devise some tactics to help protect the Monarch and Heir of the day when they took the field in the Tedrel wars.

_:Any idea how he did it?:_ Civa asked. _:I mean, I know it was through Mind Magic, but I don't remember the specifics of it.:_

_:Well… having someone that actually knows Valdemaran for a… template? I think that's the word crafters use. Anyway, having a template would be a start, since we can use that person to find what needs to go where.:_ Nath said thoughtfully.

Civa nodded, flicking her tail slowly. _:Would your Daria be willing to try it?:_ She asked. _:Because right now, I think she's about our best bet for a trustworthy person that'd let us rummage around in their head.:_

Nath nodded slightly. _:She should do, and… I think maybe we should do things both ways, since Alberich didn't automatically start using Valdemaran just because he had knowledge of the language, so we shouldn't expect Jacinth, who is from even further away, to do so.:_

Civa nodded again. _:Could you ask her? I would, but there are Rules against Companions bespeaking anyone except other Companions or their Chosen.:_ She said, sighing in relief when he nodded and started back to the farm to talk to his Herald.

* * *

Sitting in the barn watching over the latest Chosen, and incidentally, the alien, Daria turned the pod over in her hands. It didn't react to her the way it did for Ronlyn, but she did wonder how something like this could become that white armour the alien had worn. Now she knew what it was, she also wondered if it was possible to recreate the pod with magic, because if the armour it created was tough enough to allow someone to catch a sword, it would give the Heralds a tremendous advantage in the field against bandits or others.

Of course, it also begged the question of just who the alien was and what group she belonged to. They obviously weren't evil given that a Companion had Chosen this one, and given that the girl had frightened off a demon with some sort of ability, but… there had to be others out there, and who was to say how they would react to finding that one of their own was missing, then find that she was a Herald of Valdemar, on a world that they probably didn't even know existed.

It was all mute until the alien actually woke up though, until then, they wouldn't be able to find anything out about her or her people. _Assuming_ the mental work that Nath had said Civa had been doing giving Jacinth Valdemaran and herself Jacinth's native language(s) had actually worked, or even been done. That said, the headache she'd had afterwards suggested _something_ had been done. A noise from the bed had Daria looking up. Maybe they would find things out sooner than she had thought.

Moving next to the bed, Daria smiled slightly at the little farm girl. The child had barely left her rescuer's side the past two days. Something that had worried her parents, but they had relented after hearing that the alien had looked after their daughter, allowing her to stay with the alien until she was well. Ruffling the girl's hair, she looked up as the alien stirred on the pallet. "Good morning, Trainee." She said as the alien blinked open grey eyes.

"_Recruit_." Jacinth mumbled, yawning. She wasn't a trainee, she was a recruit, though that said, her official title was 'Flight Cadet' since she was a pilot first. Blinking sleep out of her eyes, she looked up at the woman standing near her, flicking her tail. "_Wha' 'appened after I passed out?_" She asked, still not having realised that she could understand the human.

It was difficult to understand her, probably because she was still part asleep and even though Daria had gotten the lizard's language through Civa and Nath, it wasn't familiar to her. It took Daria a few moments to translate mentally into Valdemaran, despite the language transfer, since she was speaking her own tongue rather than the alien's. Even then, she wasn't sure what the alien meant about being a recruit. "We've been waiting on you to wake up for the last two days." Daria said in Valdemaran. "For several reasons." She added.

"_You talk!_" The little girl interrupted in Jacinth's native tongue, throwing herself on the alien and hugging her tight.

Jacinth snorted softly, rubbing the girl's back gently. "_I could earlier, hatchling._" She said softly. "_But now I can actually understand you._" She said, arching an eye ridge at Daria.

Daria smiled slightly. "She hasn't left your side since she found out that you were still here." She said, stroking the girl's hair. "And as for why you can understand us, your Companion gave you our language while you were out, and gave some of us yours, since it speeds things up a bit." Or a lot.

"_Companion?_" Jacinth asked, looking confused. The word alone conjured up a host of meanings, the simplest being just a person that you worked with but there were other connotations, including something that looked, when she called the image into her mind's eye, something like the white horse. The question was, which meaning was it?

Daria nodded. "The white, horse-like creature that talked to you after the fight." She said. "You've actually caused Civa more than a few problems apparently." She added dryly before turning serious again. "The other thing we need to talk about, besides your training, are the artefacts you brought to our world."

Jacinth looked at her blankly for a moment. Training? She was already a Flight Cadet in the Hreathrae Dforgrym or Dragon Knights, and would be continuing that training once the nearest ship received her message and came to pick her up. And what artefacts did this human mean? Jacinth groaned softly remembering something, the guns and armour, those were the only things that could have reached here so quickly, it had to be them. And her fighter if someone had managed to find it. "_What artefacts?_" She asked, hoping it would only be the less damaging armour and hand weapon, not the fighter, which could cause havoc.

Daria walked back to where she had been sitting and picked up the pod, carrying it back to the bedside. "This for a start." She said, holding it out to show Jacinth. "Along with two metal crossbow things."

Sighing in relief, Jacinth lay back on the bed, having sat up to watch Daria. At least she knew where they were now and they hadn't gotten into the hands of someone like the chaos mage. Of course the question of _why_ she trusted this human did come up. Frowning, she probed her knowledge of the local language for an answer. _Herald_. Her mind supplied. _They were the law keepers of the country, Valdemar. They were also incorruptible, war leaders and justice givers._ "_I had to come here._" Jacinth said, flicking her tail. "_My squad were taking weapons and armour to our mother ship when we were attacked. My fighter was badly damaged and I had to land on your world. The damage meant I lost one of the two sets I was carrying, which you found._" She explained briefly, watching as Daria frowned, listening to her.

There was a lot of information to take in there, particularly since the words that Jacinth used invoked concepts that Daria hadn't even _dreamed_ of before, much less anything else. Ships ranging from one and two person vehicles, which even then were larger than any carriage, up to things big enough that an entire city could work inside them and moving around between the stars. Blinking, she almost missed the last part of what Jacinth had said. Daria shook her head. "I didn't find them, I was asked to check them when a boy returned home with them." She said. "People in this land have a good reason to be wary of things that appear inexplicably."

Jacinth snorted, then looked at the armour seed that Daria held, noticing for the first time how it had changed colour. "_Did the seed react to anyone since you've had it?_" She asked, flicking her tail slowly.

She arched an eyebrow at the alien. "React?" Daria asked.

"_Glow, change colour, something like that._" Jacinth responded, flicking her tail.

Daria nodded slowly. "The boy that found it, Ronlyn his name is, it glows in his presence. Why?"

Jacinth sighed, lying back. "_It is his armour then._" She said softly.

"What?" Daria asked.

"_The armour is made for one alone; it will only respond to that one, the seed you hold will only work for this Ronlyn._" Jacinth explained, flicking her tail. The armour had been designed that way after people had found a symbiont that would provide armour, but worked without guidance, roughly forcing itself on others. It had taken over a decade to figure out how and why, and another to alter it so it would only target one and only come to their call.

Daria frowned as she worked her way through that. Armour made for one person? Well that made sense, armour had to be custom made, otherwise it would do more damage to the person wearing it than it prevented. It was how something like the pod would be able to conform to a person. Granted she had seen Jacinth in armour and had seen enough of that battle to know that her armour had been the pod that the blood mage had held, but she didn't understand the rest of it.

Watching the human, Jacinth flicked her tail; she could tell that this female didn't understand everything that she had said. Of course, Jacinth didn't understand all of it herself. She, however, had the benefit of having been brought up in the environment that it was happening in. "_It… takes a lot of explaining._" She said. "_Even for one that was born aboard a ship, there is a lot that I don't understand myself._" She admitted.

She choked, she couldn't help it. Jacinth had been born aboard a space ship?! Up until four days ago, Daria hadn't even known there were other worlds; much less the way to travel between them, and now the latest Chosen was saying that she had been born in space? Lady Bright! Her poor Valdemaran brain wasn't built to handle things like this!

Jacinth shrugged at Daria's incredulous look. Being space born, in more ways than one, was natural to her. Of course, she was only first generation space born; most likely later generations would be even more at ease in space and around the ships than she was. Flicking her tail slowly, Jacinth watched Daria. The older female seemed to be having a hard time adjusting to what she was saying, even if she did understand her.

"You… were born in space?" Daria asked finally, getting a nod from Jacinth. "But... that's impossible, isn't it?"

Daria had gotten completely the wrong end of the stick there. Jacinth sighed. Obviously the concepts she was trying to communicate were rather above the older woman's head. "_My kind doesn't live in space naturally._" She said, flicking her tail and sitting up slowly so she didn't dislodge the human hatchling. "_I was born aboard a ship that is designed to travel in space, one sealed against the cold and airless extremes there._" She said and shrugged. "_It's hard to explain to someone that doesn't know already._"

Now that she could understand. Several fisher families around Lake Evandim lived almost entirely on their ships. Of course living on water was probably a bit different to living in a sea of stars — at least that's how Daria understood the concepts that came with the words Jacinth was using.

* * *

Leaning against a tree in the farmer's yard, Jacinth watched the dawn. This would be the fourth day since she had landed on this planet, the third since she had rescued the farmers. Flicking her tail, as the night brightened into day, she sighed. The woman in white, the Herald, and the horse that had helped her were both insisting that she go to this 'Haven' for training, even though she had explained to the both that she was already a Dragon Knight Flight Cadet.

The whole problem seemed to be, not lack of communication so much as — from the horse at least — a stubborn belief that she had to be one of these 'Heralds'. Maybe it was because she was an outsider to the people of this planet. Then again, maybe they were talking at cross-purposes. She still didn't know everything that a Herald was, even with the information from the language transfer in her mind; maybe a Herald and a Knight were doing a similar job in different ways.

Feeling the horse — Civa — approach, Jacinth flicked her tail slowly, rubbing her shoulder against the tree. It was itching pretty badly, but then she hadn't had a chance to bathe in the last few days, nor oil herself, she knew it wasn't the shedding itch though, since that would have her scratching herself bloody and literally tearing her old skin off. "_I'm still not going to Haven until I know exactly what a 'Herald' is and why you think I should be one._" She said as Civa stopped nearby.

She glanced over as Civa sighed. Obviously the horse, Companion, whatever it was, wasn't enjoying the fact that she wasn't cooperating.

_:I Chose you.:_ Civa said tiredly. They had been over this twice already since Jacinth had woken up. _:I'm a Companion and Companions Choose Heralds. That's the way it's always been.:_ She sounded certain of that much.

Jacinth snorted, flicking her tail. "_That just that you've chosen to be my soul-sib, not that I have to be something I'm not._" She pointed out. "_So, what are Heralds?_"

Civa sighed again. Her Chosen was unusually stubborn for a youngling. Then again, she was an alien here, so who really knew what 'young' meant to her. _:Heralds came about over fifteen hundred years ago as the result of a spell cast by the founder of Valdemar, King Valdemar to ensure that the country wouldn't have a bad ruler who stole from his subjects or spent their blood for power. The spell he cast Called forth the first three Companions who Chose him, his son and his herald.:_ She explained, trying to remember the details of the story about that first summoning and what had happened since. _:Since then the Heralds, as they became known, expanded in both abilities and duties. At the most basic, they serve as messengers and judges, settling disputes and carrying laws to the country. The reigning monarch and heir have to be Heralds because Heralds are, due to the Companion-bond, incorruptible. Those riding circuit also bring news to those along their route and gather information for the monarch to keep the kingdom running well and safe. They also fight if need be, acting as leaders to militia units until the army arrives and hunting down and removing other threats, like the bandits and their mage.:_

Jacinth frowned. Not too different to the Knights, except that they tended to focus on the military aspects of things and removing threats that weren't always… natural. She flicked her tail slowly. "_What else?_" She asked.

_:They also act as diplomats and spies, both because they can't be bribed and they know how to spot things that are out of place and may cause trouble.:_ Civa said, flicking her ears back at a noise from the farm.

Flicking her tail, Jacinth frowned, thinking things over. From what Civa had said, the Heralds sounded a bit like the Knights, except more generalised and more limited in area while the Knights were still growing, it had, after all, only been fifty years since they had actually formed. "_My people don't have anything like the 'Heralds'._" She said slowly. "_But fifty years ago, before my parents were born, something happened on our home world that brought other beings to it. The histories say that there was a big battle in our capital city and that many of these strangers were injured and killed exposing a group that worshiped and summoned demons. They fought for us, and because of that some, like my parents joined them._" She said, flicking her tail slowly as the sun rose over the horizon.

Civa watched her Chosen. It was definitely a good thing Nath had thought of getting Jacinth's language. Even then, she wasn't exactly sure just what Jacinth was talking about; of course, she didn't know what happened off this planet.

"_The Hreathrae Dforgrym. That's what the group called themselves, because on the world most of them came from, dragons were seen as Nature's champions and Knights protect, hence, Dragon Knights._" Jacinth said with a shrug. "_My people joined them after the battle, as did two others. Rentaarii, who were also from my parent's home world. And xenomorphs, creatures that came from yet another planet. We've been expanding since, exploring and trying to remove threats to Nature's balance. From one ship, it's grown to several, one of which I was born aboard and another found this world._"

The words conjured images into Civa's mind, humanoid equines with horns and insectile terrors, along with large four-footed versions of Jacinth in armour much like hers protecting something. It was severely odd to know what her Chosen was talking about when she was talking a completely alien language. _:And you see yourself as one of these… Dragon Knights?:_ She asked, flicking her tail.

Jacinth nodded. Her parents were, and she had been in training when she had been forced down here, plus she had given her Oaths. "_I've already given my Oath, which was why I was able to do what I did._" She said. "_It's also why I ended up here. My fighter was damaged and I had to land, Rhyl'seer Four was the closest planet…._" Seeing Civa's confused expression, she shrugged. "_Rhyl'seer Four is what this planet got named when my people found it._" She explained.

Okay, that was going to take some getting used to. Her Chosen's people were advanced enough that they had actually _found_ the world that Velgarth and Valdemar were on. Of course the other thing was that Jacinth said she was one of these 'Dragon Knights'… which made Civa wonder how she could be a Herald as well. She sighed. She _really_ needed to talk to the Grove-born; maybe he would have some suggestions or at least ideas for what the heck was going on.

"_I guess we're not really going to get anywhere unless I go to Haven, are we?_" Jacinth asked, rubbing her back against the tree she was leaning against to relieve an itch. Besides, the capital might actually have someone that could get her fighter escorted back so she could see if it was possible to get the damn thing transmitting a locator beacon and distress signal. It might get her picked up faster if they were brought to the place that she was likely to be.

Civa blinked. Was that actually acceptance of at least part of what needed to happen? If it was, then at least they could get moving. Still, she needed to contact Kyrith, the Grove-born, tonight and see if he had any ideas for handling her alien Chosen. Plus they needed to warn the Collegium, since Jacinth would probably be able to do better at several things than they knew. She snorted to herself. Jacinth could already fight, and probably do some advanced… something in order to fly that whatever here in the first place. _:We need to… for a lot of reasons.:_ Civa said, flicking her tail at a few annoying flies.

Jacinth sighed and nodded. "_Well… I hope there are at least streams on route, I need to bathe… before my scales start really flaking._" She said, scratching her arm. She _itched_ and really needed a good oiling. Pushing off the tree, she turned for the farm house, patting Civa's neck as she went. Maybe the farmers would be willing to lend her something that she could at least wash herself in. Ripping her skin off before shedding, she didn't need.

Civa blinked after Jacinth for a moment before turning and following her. _:What do you mean your scales start flaking?:_ She asked, her ears forward. It was things like this that she needed to know to let Haven know, so that they could prepare things ahead of time.

Jacinth snorted, pulling out a few scales that had been loose and irritating her. "_Flaking, like that._" She said, waving the scales under Civa's nose. "_Scales like mine need to stay clean and be oiled otherwise they itch like the blazes. And believe me, the only thing that's worse than a dragon that's been irritated by dirty scales is one that's brooding on a clutch._" She said, turning back to the house. "_And gods help you if you manage to get both together._" That would most likely result in whoever disturbed the brooding dragon becoming something rather reminiscent of a smudge on the ground.

Flicking her tail, Civa followed Jacinth back to the house. If Jacinth needed to keep her scales clean, then at least the Collegium's daily ritual of bathing wouldn't bother her. The problem was the oil. Kyrith needed to know about that so they could lay in a stock, since most likely Jacinth wouldn't want to use saddle oil on herself.

* * *

Having seen to his horse, Ronlyn made his way through the farm. It was odd being away from Freeland like this, and even odder to think that he could become a Herald. Most kids he knew dreamed of being a Herald, of riding circuit and saving people, but then most kids probably hadn't seen the fight that had happened here not three days ago.

Making his way into the house, he headed upstairs to the room he had been borrowing for the last couple of days while he and Daria had stayed here and stopped as he opened the door and found the alien creature in a metal tub in the middle of the room scrubbing herself.

He watched for a moment as she scrubbed along one leg, seeing more scales there, but not really having known what he expected. "Um…."

Hearing a noise from the door, Jacinth looked up, finding herself looking at the human boy from the other day. "What want?" She asked. The humans' language was… different. She wasn't actually sure she would be able to get the hang of speaking in it before they got to Haven; still, it had gotten her the bath, after a few attempts at figuring out how to say the words. Knowing them from a human learning them and being able to say them herself given her snout and teeth were two different things.

Ronlyn jumped. He hadn't, honestly, expected her to speak Valdemaran, especially after being here for such a short time, even _with_ the Companions doing things. He still didn't understand what exactly they had done, except that it had given him a headache afterwards. "Huh?"

Watching the human for a moment, Jacinth shrugged before turning back to her bath. He could deal with it or go elsewhere. Whichever, since it didn't bother her one way or the other. Scrubbing her legs, she sighed softly as it relieved her itches. When she was finished, she got out of the bath, still ignoring the human, and dried herself off before digging some oil out of her pack and sitting on the bed to start using it on herself.

Watching her rubbing something on herself, Ronlyn frowned. "What are you doing?" He asked. She had just had a bath, why was she doing that?

Jacinth shrugged. "Oiling scales, stops flaking and itches." She said. Okay her grammar was off, but it should at least get the point across. Switching to her native tongue, she shrugged as she worked the oil into her arm. "_Scales itch when they're dry and dirty, washing and oiling them prevents that and stops them flaking off._" She said, flicking her tail. "_Well… mostly anyway._" She didn't tell him about her shedding. With any luck, she'd be gone by then, or at least have somewhere private to go for it.

That made sense, sort of — Ronlyn did have to concentrate to follow what the winged lizard said in her own language though, since with the words came a lot of images. "What… are you?" He asked her.

Jacinth shrugged. "_I'm a Rhyl'saar dragon._" She said, working the oil over her chest.

"Ril… sar?" Ronlyn asked. The word conjured up images of creatures much like the one in front of him, but even then he wasn't sure what it was.

"Rhyl'saar, Rhyl'saarii if we more than one." Jacinth said in Valdemaran. Maybe working on the simpler concepts and needs would let her get more proficient in this odd human tongue. "_My kind is not of your world. On our world, there are no humans naturally._" At least that was what her parents had told her as a child when she had asked about their planet.

"But… where are you from if you're not from here?" Ronlyn asked. "And what happened when you fought the other day?" That was something he did want to know, having seen her go from what she was now to something with a white carapace to something made out of incandescent white fire.

"_My parents were from a world called Rentaarii, but I was born aboard a ship called the _Tempest" Jacinth said, flicking her tail. "_It's a starship, the fourth of its class and was commissioned about twenty years ago._" Of course, that was probably a lot of information to take in, but she was used to it, and since she was stuck here, might as well take some enjoyment in confusing people. "_As for what happened." She shrugged. "I gained my armour and became a Knight. That allowed me to take Aspect form to face the daemon that chaos mage summoned._"

Armour? Knight? Starship? Simple words, yet some of the concepts connected with them made his head spin. And what the hell did she mean by 'Aspect form'? That big thing made of fire? "What do you mean?" Ronlyn asked, moving to sit on the floor of the room. Considering she hadn't snapped at him or ordered him out, he guessed sticking around was okay, and sitting down would be more comfortable than standing.

Jacinth shrugged, slowly working oil into her legs. "_Which bit?_" She asked.

"All of it?" Ronlyn asked her.

Jacinth shrugged. "_Well… if you don't mind doing my back for me?_" Seeing his look, she shrugged again. "_Oiling wings and between them is awkward._" She said.

"You… want me to oil your back?" Ronlyn asked. When she nodded, he got up and moved over to the bed, sitting on it and taking the oil she handed him. "Aren't you worried I'll hurt you?" He asked, pouring some onto his hands.

"I hurt you better than you hurt me." Jacinth replied, grinning, and revealing her sabre-like teeth. Shifting around, she let him have access to her back, spreading her wings. "_As for what I said earlier. Fifty years ago Rentaarii was home to those like the mage I killed, ones that summoned and worshiped daemons. One day a huge starship — a vessel that can move between planets — came to our world and its crew fought the ones summoning the daemons. The people aboard it called themselves the Hreathrae Dforgrym — Dragon Knights — and they freed the planet._

"_Both my people and our neighbours, the Rentaarii, joined with them, my parents included, but because of the area they needed to cover, they made more ships on our world, including the _Tempest_, which I was born aboard._" She explained, leaning into his hands as he worked the oil in. He might have thought he would hurt her, but his hands were gentle, and she could get to enjoy having someone oiling her back. "_The armour is only a recent development though, one of the ships that were built before _Tempest_ found creatures that bound themselves to others, enhancing their abilities and providing armour. That was twenty-five years ago. It was only five years ago that the version I've got was developed. The Herald, Daria I think she's called. She has the other that my fighter was carrying when I was forced down._" At least that was the name she had heard given to the woman in white, since she hadn't actually asked.

Ronlyn blinked. The pod thing he had found in his family's field was actually a living being? "You mean the thing I found is actually alive?!" He asked incredulously.

Jacinth blinked, turning her head to look at him. "You Ronlyn?" She asked, snorting softly when he nodded. "Figures." She muttered, before turning to him. "_I think… you and I need to talk. A lot._" She said.

"Why?" Ronlyn asked.

"_Because the armour pods are each made for only one person. My armour wouldn't react to you and vice versa, so that it has reacted means that you might have the ability to be a Knight._" Jacinth explained, then cocked her head when Ronlyn started coughing.

Recovering himself slightly, Ronlyn looked up at her. "Herald Daria… already said I could be a Herald." He said. "Now you say I could be one like you?"

Jacinth shook her head. "_Like my parents._" She said softly. "_Civa wants me to be a Herald._" She was still more than a little iffy about that, granted from what she had heard, it sounded like she could be both, but still… she wanted to go home, and this world wasn't home.

Flicking her tail, she poked him with it. "_Are you going to finish oiling me or sit there like a lump?_" She asked, turning her back to him again. "_And why does Daria think you can be a Herald?_" Jacinth asked as he started oiling her back again.

Ronlyn shrugged, carefully working over her wings. It was odd how this female, who had seemed so capable earlier, enjoyed something as simple as this. "Daria said that the pod… the armour was reacting to the same thing that drew made a Herald a Herald." He said.

Leaning into the oiling, Jacinth frowned. It would make sense, if the same thing that made a Herald also made a Knight. Granted she didn't actually know how they had made the symbiont that formed the armour only work for a single person. Maybe they did, somehow, make them pick up on the core of a person, and if the core of a Knight was similar to that of a Herald…. "_Maybe it would work._" She murmured.

"Maybe what would work?" Ronlyn asked.

Jacinth shrugged. "_Being a Knight Herald, or a Herald Knight, whichever._" She said, flicking her tail slowly."_If the Aspects, armour and Companions all seek something that is at a person's core, and the same qualities call to all of them, maybe at the base, the Dragon Knights and the Heralds aren't so different. Maybe it's the other things that make them unique, like their abilities and focus._" She shrugged again. It was possible anyway.

* * *

"I don't like this Nath." Daria said, leaning against the side of his stall. "This Jacinth creature is alien, how do we know it won't turn on us the way it killed those bandits? And what about any others like her that might show up?"

Nath snorted at her. _:Daria, a Companion __**doesn't**__ Choose wrong.:_ He said with confidence. _:If Civa Chose her, then she is __**good**_ He stated. _:Besides which, she is the outsider here, how does she know we won't turn on her?:_ He asked, flicking his tail.

Daria turned to look at him, her mouth hanging open in shock. "But… we wouldn't." She started. "Heralds wouldn't do that."

_:You know that for sure, Chosen?:_ Nath asked. _:She is, as you said, alien, and remember what happened during the Mage Storms. All kinds of creatures were created then, which people are still hunting down now.:_ He snorted, flicking his tail. _:If the Tayledras are right, there are some from the __**original**__ Storms still around, and look at the problems most people have accepting the gryphons, dyheli, Hertasi and such, what is to say that they won't treat her worse than you are?:_ He asked, making Daria splutter. _:And remember, she fought for the child and this family, and ran off the demon, would a bad person do that?:_

"What about the armour and those crossbow things?" Daria asked, once she had recovered herself.

Nath turned to look at her. _:The armour we still have Reached for Ronlyn alone, and Reached for the same part of him that I was looking for when I found you.:_ He said, flicking his tail. _:I didn't look around much, but that part of him displayed similar traits to you, and those were what it was looking for. I'm also sure you could ask Civa to tell you what she Saw in Jacinth sometime.:_ He rippled his hide in a shrug. _:As for the crossbow things, they might be weapons, which would explain the mess that was made of some of the bandits, however, a weapon is only as evil as its wielder.:_

He was breaking down all her arguments one by one, not that it made Daria feel any better about the state of things. Jacinth was still an alien, and an unknown, and while she might be friendly enough, what about others of her kind? What about the 'Dragon Knights' Jacinth had mentioned? One being wasn't a good representative of the whole, as humans proved every day. "What about the others?" She asked. "And what about any of these things getting out? Jacinth is likely to cause havoc just by being around, never mind anything else she does!"

_:We deal with things as they happen.:_ Nath said, stepping forward to nuzzle Daria gently. _:Jacinth __**is**__ a Herald, Daria, and a good person, do not doubt that.:_ He said. _:Even if she is a bringer of change on a grand scale.:_ The thing was though, change had to happen, be it fast or slow, for life to continue, and the Heralds as they were, were rooted in fifteen hundred year old traditions. Maybe something out there had decided that something new needed to awaken them to the present.

* * *

Rubbing against a tree with her shoulder, Civa looked up at the farm house. Her Chosen was inside still, eating or talking, or both, she wasn't exactly sure which, except that it involved the boy that Nath and Daria had been escorting to Haven because he had found one of Jacinth's armour whatevers.

Sighing softly, she Reached towards Haven. Better to get this over with than wait until they were there and the other Companions decided to push her into the mud or the Terilee for not warning them that her Chosen was from outer space. Of course, that was probably going to get her odd looks anyway.

_:Kyrith? Could I talk to you? About my Chosen?:_ She asked, finally finding the one she sought.

_:You've found them then?:_ Asked the voice of the Grove-born in her mind.

Civa nodded. _:Yes, I found her, let her go and ended up chasing her half way down the trade road.:_ She said, her ears flattening at the Feel of his amusement at that. _:It's not funny, Grove-born.:_ Civa grumbled at him. _:And it's part of why I need to talk to you about her.:_ This was probably going to cause things to get rather loud, even given it was done in Mind Speech.

She could Feel the confusion from the Grove-born, and twitched her tail. _:Jacinth is… she's the alien I encountered a few days ago, the one that brought the artefacts Nath probably told you about.:_ Civa said softly.

The shock from the Grove-born was almost palpable. In fact, Civa had to wonder whether being hit over the back of the head with a board or slapped with a fish would cause the amount she could Feel coming down the link. _:You… Chose the alien?:_ Kyrith asked.

Civa nodded, flicking her tail. _:After chasing her across country for I don't know how many miles.:_ She said.

_:And why did you need to do that?:_ Kyrith asked. From what she could Feel down the link, he was trying to get his shock under control. Obviously even the Grove-born hadn't expected something like this.

She gave the mental impression of a shrug. _:She went north while I went south. I didn't know whether I was supposed to try doing anything, so I went on with my Search. A couple of leagues from the way station, my Call came, pointing at her.:_ Civa sighed. This was one bit she really didn't like about her Chosen compared with Nath's. Hers could get away from her a lot more easily than most Heralds could their Companions. _:The problem was that by the time the Call came, she was already flying north, and she's as fast as or faster than we are when she's flying.:_

Kyrith arched a mental eye brow at her. _:Flying? What is your Chosen? A bird or a gryphon?:_

Civa snorted. _:One of those would probably be easier.:_ She said, giving a mental grimace before showing Kyrith just what her Chosen looked like.

_:She's different, that's for sure.:_ Kyrith said slowly, studying the image. _:What is she?:_

Civa shrugged mentally again. _:From what I can tell, she's a Rhyl'saarii. I think. Poking around inside her head for her language was more than a little confusing.:_ She said with a grimace. Especially given some of the concepts she had floating around in there, like how to fly something that wasn't limited to a single planet. _:I do know that her home world had four sentient species, and there was a war there over people summoning demons that brought in outsiders.:_ It was hard to imagine an all out war now, because things were fairly peaceful in Valdemar, but Civa could remember one of her lives when war ran rampant because of one of the countries on Valdemar's borders.

_:How do you mean?:_ Kyrith asked.

_:Things she takes for granted are beyond anything we know, and even the artificers wildest dreams don't actually compare with what she grew up with.:_ Civa replied. _:And… the group that fought for her home world, she classes herself as one of them. She says she's a 'Hreathrae Dforgrym', not a Herald.:_

Kyrith sighed mentally. That was likely to cause problems. Of course, there had been others Chosen in the past that hadn't wanted to be Heralds, but never one from another world, much less one already affiliated with another group. _:And __**what**__ are they?:_ He asked.

Civa frowned, flicking her tail slowly. _:I think… they might be similar to Heralds, but ones that focused on war rather than peace. And ones that have much better technology and magic than we do. One of the artefacts that Nath reported was some type of pod-thing. When I finally caught up with Jacinth, the one she had actually turned into some type of armour, one hard enough that she could actually catch a sword.:_ That and what Jacinth had done when she had faced the demon still made Civa shiver, because they were so far beyond anything she knew. _:One thing we need though, is a supply of oil, preferably something closer to what some of the court ladies use… I think.:_ She informed him. They needed to ensure that was taken care of before they got to Haven. _:And possibly find a few different style beds, since she seemed to have trouble with the way station cot.:_

_:I'll see what I can do.:_ Kyrith said with a sigh. _:Your Chosen is __**really**__ going to mess things up around here.:_

Civa snorted at him. _:Trust me, I've noticed that already.:_ She said, breaking the communication.

_

* * *

_

:I still don't see why you refuse to ride.:

Civa muttered to her Chosen exasperatedly. They had stayed at the farm over night, so Jacinth could eat and get a bit more rest after what she had done with the demon. _:You are my Chosen, and you belong in my saddle.:_

"_Where I belong, Civa, is either in the air, or with my own people._" Jacinth said, bundling the remains of her flight suit into her pack, which had been strapped to Civa's saddle. "_Besides, in the air, I can cover as much distance as you can on the ground, and if you take Ronlyn, that means we all get to your city faster._" She shrugged, checking the straps on the saddle and tightening them. That, at least wasn't really any chore, even if figuring out what went where had been. "_Anyway, if what Daria said is right, then the armour that marks a Knight looks for the same thing you do. If your kind is focused around Haven, __**one**__ of them will probably be looking for him, you can save them the trip, since he's going because of his armour anyway._"

Civa watched her Chosen as Jacinth stepped back to strap the pistol back onto her leg, having gotten it back from Daria. Apparently having being Chosen by a Companion counted for something around here. _:Why did I have to find such an obstinate Chosen?:_ Civa muttered mentally.

Jacinth snorted as the others approached. "_You picked me, not the other way round._" She reminded Civa, flicking her tail. "_Look, take Ron, I'll fly, and meet you wherever Daria decides to stop for the night._" She said, crossing her arms.

Civa snorted at her Chosen. Kyrith was definitely right; Jacinth was going to make things… interesting for the Circle. _:You had better not get yourself in more trouble. The last lot was bad enough.:_

"_I did what I had to do._" Jacinth said with a shrug, before turning to Ronlyn. "_You ride her. If she managed to get this far this quickly, it'll be faster to leave the horse behind while I fly; besides I can hunt on the wing._" She told him, point at Civa, who sighed.

Daria arched an eyebrow as she approached with Nath. "And how will you know where we are going to stop for the night?" She asked.

Jacinth shrugged. "_Depends who reaches the place first, but either way, if Civa and I can talk at a distance, then at least some things can be passed around, and worst case, if Ronlyn takes his armour and I use mine, we can talk._" She said.

"I'd rather not have that happen." Daria said softly. "These… things are untried, and magical, and while they are good in theory, if what I saw in the fight here was anything to go by, I don't want them used until the Circle has had a chance to examine them." She said. She grimaced. "I don't particularly want you too far away either, even if Nath and Civa did convince me to give you that thing of yours back." She said, gesturing to the pistol resting against Jacinth's thigh.

Jacinth snorted, flicking her tail. "_We've been using the armour for five years, after __**two decades**__ of research and development to get here, and it's __**still**__ improving, same as our other equipment._" She said.

That wasn't exactly reassuring, besides, what were five years of use compared to the swords and shields used in Valdemar, which had seen centuries, or even millennia of use. "I still don't want to risk it." She snapped. "It might be okay for _you_, but Ronlyn's human, and who is to say what effects it might have on him?" Daria asked sharply. "No. It is staying right where it is until the Circle and the Mages can examine it."

Growling, and ignoring the warning nudge from Civa, Jacinth took a step towards Daria. "_Humans have used the armour without ill effect._" She snarled. "_And neither your 'Circle', nor your damned tricksters have the __**right**__ to mess with Dragon Knight equipment._" She might have been over reacting slightly, but then, she wasn't used to being questioned, nor having someone she didn't know say what was right. Aboard the ship, the command structure was clear, and she followed it, here though, she only had herself of the Knights.

Sharing a look with Nath, Civa sighed before moving to plant herself in front of Jacinth. The female might not have been human, but Civa would be damned if she didn't sound like an adolescent having a temper tantrum right now. _:Jacinth, that's enough.:_ Civa said, pinning her ears flat against her head. _:You might see yourself in the right, but you must remember that everything that you're used to is completely new to us, Daria just wants to protect her world and the things she sees as being right.:_

Taking a step forward, Nath nudged his Chosen hard in the shoulder. _:Chosen.:_ He hissed at her mentally. _:Fighting helps nothing.:_ He said, then pre-empted what she was about to say in response to what Jacinth had said._ :And remember that Jacinth is from a completely different culture. Asking her to respect the Circle now would be like asking a Gryphon to respect one of the old Eastern Emperors. It wouldn't happen.:_ He told her flatly when she turned to snap at him.

Jacinth growled, her tail lashing from side to side. "_They still have no right to mess with things that don't belong to them._" She snarled, her wings mantling.

Civa snorted, pushing Jacinth with her nose. _:You've said yourself, that the one set is Ronlyn's.:_ She said, pointing at the boy with her nose. _:If he has chosen, or had it chosen by his parents, that they are given over to the Heraldic Circle, then they __**do**__ now belong to them.:_ She said.

"She could at least show a little more respect for me as her elder, and as a full Herald." Daria grumbled.

Nath snorted. _:One, you aren't her elder, two, we don't know how old she actually is. Yes she said she was born aboard a ship that's only been active for twenty years, but that doesn't mean that it's twenty of __**our**__ years. If her planet has a longer year than ours, she might be your age when translated, three, she still sees herself as one of these 'Dragon Knights', meaning she doesn't see herself as a Herald and won't see them as her superiors.:_ He told her.

"Err… Herald?" Ronlyn asked softly. "Would it be better if I rode double with Jacinth? That way you can keep an eye on her and we can still get to Haven faster. If Civa and Jacinth don't mind that is." It looked to him, like things were going to blow up if someone didn't do something to settle tempers.

"I _fly_." Jacinth insisted, lashing her tail. "You _ride_." She said, pointing at Ronlyn.

Ronlyn shook his head. "Jacinth, please, ride with me." He said, stepping towards her. "If you do, maybe later Herald-Mage Daria will let you fly." He suggested, glancing at the Herald-Mage, who still didn't look pleased about things.

Jacinth growled. She didn't like the fact that they were ganging up on her either, or that Civa was all too right. "Fine." She grumbled, her tail still lashing. "I ride."

Civa sighed. That, at least, meant that they could get on with things, even though she had the feeling that this was just the start of the arguments. _:Then how about you two get up and maybe we can get going, __**before**__ another argument starts preferably.:_ She said to Jacinth.

_:Take the offer, Chosen.:_ Nath ordered, making Daria grind her teeth together.

"Alright." She said grudgingly. "We'll do it that way then. Mount up and we'll go." Daria said, turning to check Nath's saddle straps before mounting up.

Jacinth sighed, getting into Civa's saddle with a bit of difficulty. She wasn't used to horses, but they were close enough to unicorns that that wasn't the problem; it was the saddle shape, which didn't take account of her tail. "You need new saddle." She said, trying to settle her tail before coiling it around one ankle. "Tail don't fit."

Ronlyn snickered as she helped him up, settling behind her and carefully slipping his arms around her waist. He grunted when she elbowed him, and shifted as Daria and Nath started off. "Jacinth." He said softly. "Don't push Daria. She's a Herald, and what she says might as well be from the King."

"Not my king." Jacinth muttered at him. "And don't hold tight, hurts wings."

"When in Karse, do as the Karsites do." Ronlyn told her, shifting slightly as Civa picked up the pace a little to stay within shouting distance of Daria.

"Huh?" Jacinth asked, confused.

Civa snorted, flicking her ears back. _:What Ronlyn means is that you're in Valdemar now, while you are, you'd be better off following our rules.:_ She said, flicking her tail. _:Meaning don't annoy the Heralds, because they are supposed to be the ones you're working along side, and they are the best ones to keep you safe.:_ She added.

Jacinth grunted. She didn't trust the people of this world much, and she didn't like the fact non-Knights were trying to order her around. She wasn't one of them; they didn't have the right since they weren't her parents or superiors.

Up ahead, Daria glanced back at the pair on Civa briefly. "I don't like this." She muttered, turning back to watch where they were going. "If she acts like that to me, what will she do with the Dean or the King?"

Nath snorted, looking back at her. _:You questioned what she sees as the way things should be.:_ He said, flicking her tail. _:And remember, she's the outsider here, __**we**__ have nothing to do with her Knights, and to her, that probably means she would ignore us where she would obey them. Remember how she folded when Ronlyn suggested a compromise?:_

Daria frowned. "What of it?" She asked.

_:Maybe you're trying things the wrong way.:_ Nath said, rippling his hide in a shrug. _:She seems to trust Ronlyn more than us, possibly because the pod reacted to him. If she sees him as one of her own, maybe the best way to get her to cooperate would be to work through him, at least for now.:_ He suggested.

She didn't really like the thought of using the boy to control Jacinth, especially since Jacinth could easily hurt him. Of course, that said, she could hurt them all if she wanted to. Daria sighed. "I like that even less." She said. "Unfortunately I don't see any better way."

* * *

Dean Kieran sat in an over stuff armchair that had seen hard use from at least two deans of the Heraldic Collegium and looked across the desk at King Garth and the Kings Own, Jodi, who had arrived to discuss the latest Herald Trainee at the behest of Jodi's Companion, Kyrith. "Alright Jodi, since Kyrith has Spoken to Civa, let's hear the worst." Kieran said, shifting slightly in his seat.

Pushing greying black hair out of her face, Jodi sighed. Kieran had always been blunt spoken, ever since she had known him as a year mate of hers, still, despite that, he loved learning and knew how to handle teenagers, save maybe the one Kyrith had told her about. "Several days ago, Companion Nath reported two things to Kyrith," she said, "The first of these was that a boy from Freeland had discovered two artefacts of unknown power and origin in his family's fields outside of the town. He also reported that when Herald Daria took the items and went to leave, the boy — Ronlyn, his name is — was standing by the door and one of the artefacts had an unusual reaction to his proximity."

"Unusual, how?" Garth asked, leaning forward slightly and resting his elbows on the arms of the chair he was sitting in. "And is this boy, Ronlyn the Herald that Civa found?"

Jodi shook her head. "He isn't Civa's Chosen, though he is coming here." She said. "As for the artefact, it's what looks like a seed pod of some sort, except it is about a foot across and the one that Daria has glows near Ronlyn. As yet I have heard no explanation as to why." She informed them.

Kieran nodded slightly. "Well, at least Daria shows sense in bringing both the boy and the artefacts he found here so we can study them." He said, shifting slightly. "So, who is Civa's Chosen?" He asked.

Jodi shifted in her seat. "That relates to the other thing Nath reported." She said, looking between the two men. "Apparently Civa was on Search and resting at a way station several days out of Freeland when a creature came in that she hadn't seen before. Apparently it looks similar to the Hertasi, but it's larger, and has a mane and wings."

Garth frowned, rubbing a hand through his beard. "It is odd how both these strange items and the odd creature show up within a very short time of each other." He said, frowning thoughtfully. "It suggests that they are linked in some way."

"More than linked." Jodi said. "The report also stated that the creature had what looked like a seed pod that glowed white, which makes me think that the one Daria took custody of is either one a set, or there are more aliens that use these things somewhere." She said. "Now, yesterday, Civa finally reported to Kyrith personally. Apparently she had had her Call, only to find it pointing her at the alien, which had been going north and had taken off…."

She was interrupted by a pair of "WHAT"s from the two men, who had also risen to their feet, shock plain on their faces.

Holding up her hands, and waiting until both Garth and Kieran had managed to recover themselves, Jodi continued. "Yes, you did hear right. Remember a Companion is _never_ wrong, so if Civa's Call went to the alien, then there must be some reason that we cannot see at this point." She said. She had already had her session for exclamations and expletives, when Kyrith had told her about this, she still wasn't happy, but she was somewhat resigned to it. "Civa didn't catch up with the alien, who she calls 'Jacinth', like the night flowers in Companion's Field, until later, at a farm about half a day north of Freeland, where she apparently met up with Daria, Ronlyn and Nath. They had gone to investigate something and found six dead bodies on the road, ones dressed as bandits."

Kieran blinked. "What killed them?" He asked.

"Jacinth, apparently." Jodi said. "They found her unconscious inside the farm, with more bandits, including a mage, and the farmers being held prisoner." She said, before taking a sip of wine from the glass that a servant had brought in before the meeting. "She didn't _stay_ unconscious though, and when she woke up, the pod that she had had, which the mage had taken, reacted to something from her and turned into some kind of white armour, armour at least as tough as plate given Civa reported seeing Jacinth catch a sword blade."

"She killed the others at the farm?" Garth asked, shifting slightly.

Jodi shook her head. "The bandits and the mage were slain, then she passed out." She said. "However, it presents us with a problem." She shifted, then grimaced. "Well, several problems. Firstly, we don't know how much Valdemaran she will understand. Secondly, from what Kyrith reported, when Civa went into her Chosen's mind, she found things that are beyond our understanding. Somehow, I get the bad feeling that the pod/armour things are just the tip of the iceberg."

Kieran grimaced. "Lord Dark and Lady Bright. What in the havens are we supposed to do with a non-human Chosen?" He asked. And then there was the problem of how they were going to deal with her and how the populace would deal with her.

Jodi nodded. "We also have the problem of her physical needs. Apparently Civa wants us to lay in a large store of the sort of oils that the court ladies use on their skin for Jacinth, and find her a different bed, since she's obviously got wings at least, probably a tail as well." She said. It was going to be one massive mess. "The last problem that I know of, is that Jacinth sees herself as part of another group which are apparently demon hunters, who freed her home." That was going to cause major problems, since they needed to train Jacinth as a Herald, and if she saw herself as one of these things, or retreated to that, then they were going to have problems.

Garth started at that. "Who are this other group?" He asked. If there was a group involved, then Valdemar had to be prepared for them to appear at any time, should they come seeking this alien in his country. And the other aliens might be even more trouble than the alien Herald Trainee already was.

"Civa called them the 'Hreathrae Dforgrym'." Jodi said with a shrug. "Who they are or what they are about I have no idea."

Kieran sighed. "Anything else you _do_ know about this… this alien?" He asked. He really wasn't sure that any of this was a good idea, especially since there might well be severely unimpressed people — aliens — coming later on.

Jodi shook her head. "No, but hopefully Civa or Nath will report something tonight that might help us." She said.

* * *

Slipping off Civa's back in front of the town gates, Jacinth groaned, rubbing her legs. She had been stuck on the Companion's back for too long, of course aching hips and legs weren't as bad as the bruises she had gotten in training, or spending hours in a cramped cockpit enduring forces in excess of ten gravities, even with the inertial dampeners and flight suit.

Flicking her tail, she watched the humans bickering at the gates. Something had obviously happened before they had gotten there, and now they were going to be held up for however long. "What they argue about?" She asked, waving at the pair by the gates. "And where we?"

Ronlyn shrugged from where he sat in Civa's back. "I don't know what's going on, but it looks like the road guard is involved, so something is up." He said, raising himself up look ahead. "As for where we are, I think that's Tindale ahead, but I'm not sure." He said. "I've never been this far from Freeland before."

Jacinth nodded slightly. "I be further." She said. "Home up there, moving." She added, jerking her snout at the sky above them.

Ronlyn grimaced as Daria moved on ahead. He had forgotten that Jacinth wasn't actually from their planet.

"Ronlyn, Jacinth, stay with me, please." Daria called over her shoulder. "I don't want to lose the pair of you." Whatever had happened up ahead of them, it was blocking the way into the town, and since they had to go through or around the town, it looked like Daria had to deal with things. Of course, she had to keep an eye on Jacinth as well, as the alien seemed to have a rebellious streak, and was likely to cause or get into trouble if left to her own devices.

Jacinth snorted, but followed as Civa started forward. She didn't like the 'Herald' ordering her around the way she did. Flicking her tail, she looked up as Ronlyn put a hand on her shoulder. "What?" She asked.

"Let Herald Daria deal with things here." Ronlyn said, shifting slightly in the saddle.

Jacinth blinked. "Huh?"

He shrugged. "Whatever needs doing, Heralds dispense the King's justice, let Daria handle whatever is going on. If you try," He shrugged again. "It's likely not to be pretty."

Her tail twitched. "Don't trust her." She said. "Don't like either."

"Just let her deal with things." Ronlyn said. "She knows what she's doing."

_:He's right Chosen.:_ Civa said, flicking her tail and nosing Jacinth gently. _:Besides, this gives you a chance to see what being a Herald is all about.:_ She said, her hooves chiming on the cobblestones like bells.

Jacinth grunted. She wasn't certain about this, and didn't like Daria at all.

"Ho there, guardsman." Daria called as they made their way closer to the argument. "What's happening here?"

The man in the blue and silver of the Valdemaran Guard looked up at the sound of Daria's voice and blinked, he hadn't expected a Herald to come this way again for another few weeks. "Herald." He said, nodding to her. "I didn't expect you for another few weeks." Turning his attention to her, he pointed his arm at the wagon blocking the town gates, his hand having been lost to something at some point in the past. "As to what's happened, the merchant here was driving drunk and lost control of his horse." The man said. "The beast has been picked up, but it damaged several properties after breaking loose from the wagon."

"I am not dunk… drunk." The merchant interrupted. "And I want my horsh back."

Shifting slightly to lean against Civa, Jacinth snorted. Even from where she was, she could smell the alcohol on his breath, and aboard ship, he would be spending time in the brig if he had caused the damage she could see, which included a wagon that had fallen on its side, probably due to the horse pulling it making a sharp turn. "Drunk." She muttered. "Should be in bed or brig, not driving wagon."

"Probably." Ronlyn agreed. "But as things stand Daria has things to do." He said, motioning towards the Herald.

"Good merchant, your horse is in the custody of the Guard, if you wish it returned, you will have to go to their stables." Daria said, surveying the damage from atop Nath. "Right now however, your wagon has lost some of its contents, and is blocking the gate."

Watching, Jacinth frowned as Daria looked around before picking several people out of those watching to actually shift the wagon off the road while the merchant fussed over his goods.

"Guardsman, would you escort this merchant to your barracks to dry out, then ensure that he appears before Magistrate Harnel when the good magistrate returns to the town?" Daria asked, looking down at the guardsman.

"Aye Herald, tha' I can do." He said, gesturing to one of his fellows to take over before escorting the merchant away, still flapping over his wares.

Turning Nath, Daria headed back to where the others were waiting and jerked her head towards the gates. "I know an inn here where they won't ask too many questions." She said. "Follow me." She ordered as Nath turned again, moving towards the gate.

Jacinth growled at the order, but, under Ronlyn and Civa's urging, followed Daria into the town. It was smaller than she had expected, even if she was used to the corridors of the _Tempest_, the town made her hold her wings tight against her back. There were so many humans around and the only other creatures being the less intelligent things that they kept for pets or work beasts. "Don't like this." She muttered. The town was antiquated, old fashioned and full of far too many humans for her liking.

Civa nudged her shoulder gently, flicking her tail. Outside, she had forgotten how defensively Jacinth had held herself on the morning after their first meeting. Maybe Jacinth was so used to that ship of hers that she was having a hard time adjusting to the towns and buildings of Valdemar, though she had seemed alright on the farm so what had been different there? Was it just too much too fast or was it to do with the people? Or the fact that these people were at home here, yet she was an outsider. An alien. Especially given some of the furtive looks coming their way, Civa noted as she looked around.

Asking Civa to a halt for a moment, Ronlyn climbed down from her back then hurried forward to catch up with Jacinth, putting an arm around her shoulders as the Companion nuzzled her from the other side. He could feel the looks, even though they weren't directed at him. Poor Jacinth. He felt homesick, but his home was only a few leagues down the trade road, hers was somewhere beyond the sky. He didn't say anything as she leaned against them both.

Glancing back when Nath stopped at a corner, Daria blinked, seeing the way the crowds parted around the three she was taking to Haven, then winced, seeing the looks and the way that Ronlyn and Civa stayed close to Jacinth, who was leaning against them. Being a Herald, she was used to be looked at, usually with wariness and awe, but that was nothing compared to the curiosity, fear and loathing that the townspeople were displaying now. Her heart went out to the hunched, black scaled figure coming down the road.

Swinging off Nath's back, she dug through her saddlebags until she found a cloak. Unrolling it, she walked back to the three. "Excuse me Ronlyn, Civa." She said, nodding when they stepped back. Stopping Jacinth, she flipped the cloak around the other female before pulling the hood over Jacinth's head and pushing the white mane out of the young Rhly'saar's eyes. "There, that should help some, Jacinth." She said, then smiled slightly at the look the dragon gave her. "No, I'm not a miserable old stoneheart." She said before turning to the crowd. "What are you people looking at?" She asked harshly. "Just because she looks different doesn't mean that she doesn't have feelings, and any one of you could be in the same position she is someday." She snapped at them, causing most to turn back to their own business, others slinking away under her glare.

When she rejoined him, Nath nuzzled Daria gently. Even as little as she had done with the cloak and moving people along, it had helped Jacinth as she wasn't acting so defensively now. _:Thank you, Chosen.:_ He said softly.

"You were right, Nath." Daria said just as softly. "And I was so busy looking what affect her presence and things would have on us, I failed to think about what affect we would have on her." She said, motioning the others to follow before leading them towards the inn. "I still don't _trust_ her, but… she's scared and alone, and I failed to see that. Failed to see her as what she is, a fish out of water." She whispered. She had been so focused on her own distrust and fear that she hadn't even seen Jacinth's.

He nuzzled her gently. _:Daria, you're human, you make mistakes.:_ He said. _:And you're not quite right yet. She's a dragon off her ship.:_ He said, giving Daria the mental impression of a grin when she snorted in involuntary amusement.

* * *

By the time they got to the inn, Jacinth had actually managed to relax a bit, now she wasn't being stared at by the others. Pulling the cloak tighter around her, she flicked her tail, watching as Daria handled the innkeeper of the Stooping Hawk. Hopefully this place would be quiet and would have somewhere for her to be out of the way, since the way the people had been looking at her earlier hadn't been friendly and she didn't want to face it again.

Passing some coins to the inn keeper, Daria turned to the others as he disappeared back inside. "The inn is fairly full tonight, so Dirk is going to open up the back door and let us up to the rooms from the stables instead of us having to go through the front, since I doubt you want to face that many people again Jacinth." She said, nodding slightly to the dragoness. After what had happened earlier, she was trying to make Jacinth more comfortable, since the young dragoness was probably none too comfortable being on this planet. "He'll also be sending up food and a bath to the rooms."

Jacinth nodded, sighing softly in relief. Maybe aboard the ship she'd be comfortable in a tavern, but not here with so much so different, and people so hostile. "Thank you." She said.

Daria nodded, putting a hand on Nath's neck. "Come on, I'll show you where we need to go, then I'll see if I can find something a bit better than my cloak to cover you, along with some supplies." She said, leading the way around to the stables.

Following Daria and Jacinth, Ronlyn looked around as they entered the stable building attached to the back of the inn. Being on one of the major trade routes out of Haven, it had been built with a few loose boxes for Companions, as they, being intelligent, didn't need to be confined the way horses did.

Frowning at the interior of the stable, Jacinth followed Civa into one of the loose boxes, her tail flicking slowly as she started stripping Civa of the saddle and hackamore. "Why…" she started, then stopped, trying to figure out how to put it. "Why build this?" She asked. "Companions intelligent, why not let roam?"

"Companions are allowed to roam," Daria said from where she was rubbing Nath down. "Which is why they use these loose boxes, but here, in Valdemar, we have weather and they need shelter." She explained, trying to make things simple enough for Jacinth to get her head around fairly quickly. "And people need to keep ordinary horses safe, in here they are less likely to be stolen, they have shelter, and they aren't able to mingle and cause problems."

"Oh." Jacinth said, flushing under her scales. Boy did she feel stupid for not remembering that little fact about planets. It had been part of her history course, along with her piloting. The piloting more so since several scenarios required either taking off from or landing on a planet, moon or something else, in various types of weather. Taking a brush from one of the packs, she started working on Civa. "Forgot that." She muttered with a grimace.

Ronlyn smiled slightly, leaning against the stall wall. "You'll get used to it, Jac." He said. "Besides, being a flier, haven't you noticed the wind?" He asked, waving towards the stable door.

Jacinth nodded. "Yes." She admitted. "But shook up by humans. Not you; others outside." She said, rubbing Civa's snout when the mare nuzzled her.

"I noticed." Daria said, shifting uncomfortably as she worked a comb through Nath's mane. "And it made me realise that I had been treating you just as badly, even though Civa had Chosen you, and Nath had supported you." She said, before turning to look at Jacinth. "Can you forgive me for that?" She asked softly. "I was so focused on what you and the things you brought could do to us that I failed to see how the things I see as natural affect you."

Coming into the stall, Ronlyn put a hand gently on Jacinth's back. Maybe it was because he had always felt out of place in his home, despite being homesick now, and had always dreamed about meeting other creatures, but he had felt more comfortable with Jacinth than it seemed Daria was.

Turning to nose Ronlyn gently, acknowledging the support he had given her, Jacinth turned to face Daria. "_I treated you badly._" She said softly in her own language. "_I see the things I brought with me from the other side. They're good for the Knights, and we're used to them. You Heralds aren't, and see them as a possible threat._" She said, flicking her tail slowly. "I apologise for that." She said, switching back to Valdemaran.

_:Told you they'd realise they were missing things eventually, didn't I?:_ Nath asked Civa silently, looking over at her and flicking his ears.

Civa snorted softly. _:Yes, but we still likely need to hit the Circle on the head about just what Jacinth is if someone else hasn't done it by the time we get back.:_ She said, flicking her tail. _:And besides, I've still got to deal with having an alien for a Chosen, which is going to be ruddy hard work.:_

* * *

Jacinth lazed on the bed, her tail flicking slowly. The room that the innkeeper had given them was, fortunately, right at the back of the inn and was fairly large. At least that's what the others said. She had seen larger places, but it was about the size of the quarters she and her parents shared, and that suited her, as did the two windows large enough to climb out of.

Having had her bath, she was content to laze here until food came or Ronlyn was finished, since he had been kind of embarrassed about taking a bath around her, despite the fact that she wasn't human. Jacinth smiled slightly. He and Daria would probably hit the roof if they knew how her species matured. Of course right now Daria was out looking for something a bit easier to deal with than the cloak she had lent Jacinth on the trip through town.

Shifting up onto her side, Jacinth stretched before sitting up and digging a data pad out of her pack. It wasn't much, but maybe, if she wrote things down, when she got her fighter back she could send the log with an SOS or locator signal, assuming that she could repair things enough. Shifting around again, she pulled out a stylus from the data pad and used it to open up the journal program before starting to write about what had happened so far.

As she wrote, she thought back over what had happened and snorted. A routine mission gone tail over wings and ending up in a vape brawl that her squad had run from in different directions, fortunately without, last she had known, having lost anyone permanently. Landing on a planet that was barely charted and ending up with a soul-sib, armour, her Aspect bond and wraith weapons, then finding out her soul-sib wanted her to be something other than a Knight. It was a lot to take in, and that was barely scratching the surface.

Jacinth was shaken out of her reverie by a yelp from the other room followed by a distinctly female sounding shriek. Groaning, she rolled to her feet and crossed to the door, easing it open enough to look out into the main room. What she saw made her shake her head. What was it with humans that they were so protective and repulsed by the organs that let them breed? She snorted softly, seeing Ronlyn in the metal bath, red creeping up his neck, and in the doorway, a human female probably a few years older and equally red. So Ronlyn was taking a bath and the human could probably see things clothing hid from her position. So what? Over half of the _Tempest_'s crew, her included, didn't wear anything as a general rule.

Closing the door softly, she shook her head again. Humans were so embarrassed about what came naturally. Even on the ship, in fact some of the other pilots, both cadets like her and the older ones were embarrassed by seeing the area between other's legs bare, as if it actually meant things. She snorted, crossing back to the bed and settling on it to continue writing her logs. Hopefully the human female would go away soon and Ronlyn would finish up, since writing on a bed wasn't the easiest thing to do, even with the data pad.

Flicking her tail slowly, she frowned slightly as she turned things over in her mind, still working on the logs, until a tap at her door interrupted her. "Yes?" She asked without looking up.

"Um… there's food if you want it." Ronlyn's voice came through the door.

Looking up, Jacinth flicked her tail in amusement. "_Have you gotten over that female seeing you?_" She asked.

The muttering that came from the other side of the door in response to that was anything but polite. Sniggering, Jacinth got off the bed and went out into the main room to get herself some food. Putting together a plate of meat, she flicked her tail as Ronlyn got his own food. "You humans weird." She said. "See me naked all time, but 'fraid of humans naked."

Stopping as he reached for a piece of sausage, Ronlyn blinked, trying to work through what she had just said. "Uh… yeah. But you've got scales covering you, there's nothing to see. Humans don't have anything to cover them naturally." He said eventually.

Jacinth shrugged. "So?" She asked. "Easy find things on me and mine." She arched an eye ridge as Ronlyn turned a rather interesting shade of red from the neck up. "Humans in heat always?" She asked, rolling her eyes when he nodded. "Humans weird." She said again. "Heat for me once year."

"Lucky you." Ronlyn muttered, before taking his plate and half running to the other room, still blushing furiously.


	3. Tempest

Disclaimer

I don't own Velgarth et al, nor do I own the xenos/aliens, however the characters and Knights are mine.

This is a short chapter compared to the last couple, and it's primarily to show what's going on on the other side of things, namely the Knights' side.

Reviewers

**Warbender** – I'm re-editing my chapters as I go through, hopefully you'll see a continued improvement

**Oneswordsworn** – We'll find out when they get there.

**SparkyCSI** – It can be, depending on what you're used to.

**GinaStar** – I certainly hope you'll enjoy the rest of it, even if it does take a while.

* * *

Several light years away from Rhyl'seer Four, a large ship sat in orbit above a moon, its rounded, wedge shaped hull painted in dark blues and greys. Bearing the same armoured dragon motif as Jacinth's fighter, the larger ship hung there, occasionally firing its manoeuvring thrusters to maintain its position while several fighters like Jacinth's limped towards its recovery deck, some of them still bearing the black horse motif on their wings.

Inside the hanger bay, several people waited anxiously, including a pair of dragons, he had dark blue scales with green stripes, while she was black and dark grey, though both had white manes that continued on down between their wings ending with a tuft at the tips of their coiled tails as they watched the fighters lowered into the hanger from the recovery deck above.

Each of the battered fighters that came down the lift was a spark of hope that was pinched out as soon as the pilot removed their helmet and staggered towards their parents. When the last one revealed another's child, Karinth turned to bury her face in her husband's heavily scaled chest, tears stinging her eyes. Their daughter, Jacinth, hadn't been amongst the seven to return to the _Tempest_.

Slipping his arms around his wife, careful of the deadly blades that had grown from her scales, Neeran rubbed between her four wings. Looking around, he could see the other two families that had lost children on this training mission doing the same as he and his wife. It _hurt_ to think of his daughter, and the other two children in who knew what danger, even though Jacinth had spent her entire life in danger, having been born aboard the _Tempest_ after he and Karinth had been assigned to its initial crew.

Closing his eyes, he nuzzled Karinth carefully, his tail coiled around hers. He opened them again when he heard a soft cough from the side and looked over, and down, at the Cadet Squad Leader. A young xenomorph by the name of N'rrehesssiss, who looked even younger than he was the way he held himself, dark green head lowered. "Yes, N'rrehesssiss?" Neeran asked.

"I am sssorry, Commander Neeran." N'rrehesssiss hissed softly, his bony tail flicking listlessly, the barb on the end scraping on the deck. "When we were attacked coming back, it wasss on my ordersss that the sssquad ssscattered. Becaussse of that, Jacssinth didn't make it back." It was his first command on a full mission where he wasn't under the command of a senior pilot, and he had lost three pilots that they really couldn't afford to lose. If he had had a face capable of expression, he would've closed his eyes against both the shame and tears. "Maybe if we had ssstayed together, we would've all made it back."

"And maybe it would be ten families mourning their lost children, not just three." Karinth said, raising her head from her husband's chest, to look sternly at N'rrehesssiss, who had raised his long, faceless head to look at her. Long ago, that faceless head with a set of silvery teeth had unnerved her, but she had gotten used it, and the almost skeletal appearance of the xenos. "Little as I like losing my daughter, I can't fault you for bringing the ones you did home." She said, leaning against her husband.

N'rrehesssiss twitched his tail, looking up at the older Rhyl'saar. He still didn't like the fact that on his first independent command, he had managed to lose over a quarter of his squadron. Every member of the squad had grown up together here aboard the _Tempest_, and had twelve or more years together, even him. His species had once been considered a scourge of the galaxy because they implanted their young into the chests of other races. _He_ was a second generation xenomorph from after the Rentaarii had managed to alter them enough that they could breed the way other races did, with only Queens producing the eggs holding face huggers, and those actually being designed so that the resulting embryos could be removed safely, giving his species the genetic enhancement they needed. "I'm ssstill sssorry I didn't manage to bring your daughter and the othersss back." He said softly. "Jacssinth, Gerry and Rhen were my friendsss." And he _really_ wished his eyes were where most species kept them, so he could cry. He _missed_ his friends.

Smiling sadly, Neeran reached out with one arm and pulled the young xeno close, holding him and his wife. "You did everything you could." He told the boy, then blinked at himself. Here he was, father of one of the missing, and he was comforting her squad leader? Neeran shook his head. It didn't matter. N'rrehesssiss was one of the ship-born kids, and they were all as close as siblings anyway. "And there's the chance that they're still alive." He said slowly. He hoped so anyway. After all, it was his daughter out there, alone and in who knew what situation. "We need to search, not just accept them as missing."

* * *

With the last of _Tempest_'s strike craft back aboard and locked down in the hanger, and the ship reviewing the recordings from the cadet squadron's remaining fighters, Neeran sat in his ready room off the bridge of the ship, looking at the video-screen in front of him. "Commodore," he said, flicking his tail as he watched the golden dragon on the screen. "While I appreciate the fact that we have far too few ships to risk, my daughter and two others of her squadron are missing. We need to at least try searching for them." He said. "And if what the recruits reported is right, then the pirates that attacked them did so in force. If we are going to hold this sector for those trade ships you want, we need to find and eliminate them."

Commodore Ghrathryn sighed. He knew all too well what it was like to lose a child, and they did need that sector cleared. "Do you have any idea where to begin this search, Commander Neeran?" He asked, running a hand through the silver crest scales that grew on his head. "Because while I appreciate how much you want to find your daughter and her squadron mates, I lost far too many people freeing your planet from daemons, I don't want to lose you or your crew." He said.

Neeran shook his head. "_Tempest_ is working on it, but it's taking him a while, since he's trying to run through the logs of the seven fighters that made it back." He said, flicking his tail. He was honestly worried about his missing people, but he couldn't help feeling grateful that the Commodore, the First Dragon Knight, was not only allowing this to go ahead, but was also worried about them. "Once we know where the ambush happened, we've got to go over the logs to see if we can find out where the pirates' attack came from, and find out what courses our missing pilots jumped out on." Unfortunately that was going to take time, even with the _Tempest_ working on things.

Ghrathryn nodded slightly. "Well, when you find the pirate base, assess the situation before you attack it. If you can, it might be worth while trying to take the structure intact and holding the _Tempest_ there while we get a group together to retrofit it and take it over." He said. No point in destroying a base that they could use, and if the pirates built it to be close to likely trade routes, then there was the potential to use it to protect them. Besides, a used base was one that was denied the pirates, and that would help in the long run.

"If we have to wait, it will delay our search." Neeran said, twitching his tail. He wanted to find his daughter.

"True enough." Ghrathryn said. "But there's two ways to go. _If_ you take the base and clear the enemy ships, your people will need time to recover anyway, so you can sit and wait for reinforcements." He said, shifting slightly, not taking his eyes, which were a deep sapphire blue, off Neeran. "You can also use the time to track down potential places for your people to have hidden from the scouting reports, and your strike craft can start exploratory patrols of their own, which might get you to your people faster." He suggested with a shrug of his wings.

Neeran sighed softly. The Commodore had a very good point there. Unfortunately. He still wanted to find his daughter and the others a lot, but he did have to think about the whole crew, and not only that, but there were other Knights out there, and, as he himself had mentioned previously, the trade ships that would be coming this way, especially if they found any planets worth trading with. "Aye Commodore." He said. "I'll report back to you on the _Annihilator_ once we've found and either taken or destroyed that pirate base." He said.

Ghrathryn nodded. "I'll relay it to Rentaarii and have them send the _Storm_ with the troop and supply ships." He said. The _Storm_ was the first of its class and one of the other all too few cruisers that had been built to fill the gap between the smaller destroyers and his own massive _Annihilator_, which was probably a match for all six ships of the class and then some. That said, however, the _Storm_ was the same class as the _Tempest_ and would easily be able to handle the same tasks as its sibling ship.

Neeran nodded, flicking his tail. "Aye Commodore, _Tempest_ out." He said, shutting down the communication channel. Rising from his desk, he headed out onto the bridge, his tail flicking, to give the orders.

* * *

Staring out over the water of the artificial lake N'rrehesssiss sighed softly. Right now everything was reminding him of his missing friends. In the hanger, there were three empty slots where their fighters should've gone. In the squad's barracks, there were three empty beds, and three empty seats at their usual table in the cantina. Not only that, but the entire squad was down in the dumps.

Sighing again, he curled up, resting his chin on his upraised knees. Having the squad scatter had been his idea. Now three of his friends were missing in action. Coiling his tail around himself, he watched the light fade, deepening towards night. Second watch would soon be over, and he needed to rest before first came around again. He didn't want to return to the pilots' barracks that his squad used though, those three empty beds would be there, and he already missed the voices of his friends.

All the wonders of the modern age, things his great-great grandparents would never have dreamed of in their simple lives of hunting for food and hosts, and yet he still hadn't saved his friends.

"You miss them, don't you?" A voice came from behind him and a hand dropped on his shoulder. Looking up into the equine face of Kaalii, the sole Rentaar amongst the Nightmares, N'rrehesssiss sighed softly. "N'rr." She said softly, gently rubbing one three fingered hand over what passed for his cheek. "It wasn't your fault. We all knew the risks. All of us." She told him, sitting down beside him, tossing her sable mane over her shoulder. "Your quick thinking got most of us through alive. Maybe all of us." She nosed him gently when he turned to look at her. Her own grand parents had probably seen the xenos as monsters, right up until the point that several of the xenos had physically blocked attacks on the Rentaarii members of _Annihilator_'s crew, giving themselves in the part-unicorns' places. She, however, had grown up with N'rrehesssiss and his kin, and saw him as a valuable friend and sibling. "We all jumped out. It might be that the others found places to land, even if they couldn't return because of damage." She said softly.

"I ssstill feel like it'sss my fault, Kaalii." He said, resting his chin on his knees again. "I chossse the route. I ordered you to ssscatter. Now we're three short, one of whom isss the Commander'sss daughter." N'rrehesssiss sighed. _I messed up. Now others pay the price. Is this really what it means to command?_ He wondered, twitching his tail. He didn't even notice that Kaalii was leaning against him. _Dealing death is what my kind is built for, but to see your orders kill someone you care for… someone you see as a sibling._ It was a lot different knowing that you could kill to making a decision that got your friends hurt. Or dead.

Kaalii rolled her eyes, reaching up a dark brown hand to turn his head. "It's not your fault, N'rr." She said, kissing him gently. "We should've stayed in pairs at least, maybe then we could've all at least reported in." She said, getting to her hooves and gently pulling him to his feet. "Come on. The others are waiting for us by the copse." She said, nosing him gently.

If he had had a proper face, N'rr would've blinked as it was he flushed, glad that his exoskeleton didn't show it. The last thing he had been expecting was Kaalii to kiss him, after all, he was a xeno and most non-xenos didn't find his kind attractive. "Kaalii?" He asked, uncertainly as he was being pulled along by her.

* * *

Lying on his stomach, N'rr shifted slightly as something light teased along his back between the four spines that grew from his equivalent of shoulder blades. What had happened last night anyway? The last thing he actually remembered was Kaalii dragging him to the copse that they and the others of their squad had played in as kids, then nothing. Whatever had happened in the intervening period, he could not remember it at all, and his mind was completely and utterly blank. Shifting again as he became more aware of his surroundings, he yawned, flicking his tail idly.

A grunt from behind him made him look back, to see Kaalii's back, her short, dark brown fur almost black in the shadows the trees cast in the 'morning' sun. Of course, said 'sun' was actually a series of high powered lights rigged in a path that would emulate day and night throughout the year. Shifting slightly, N'rr gently placed one hand on Kaalii's shoulder, trailing it up her neck to find her head resting on his lower back. When the heck had that happened?

Feeling a hand trail up her neck, Kaalii arched it slightly, smiling a little. Then she opened her eyes and blinked at the sight of a rather familiar dark green tail. Raising her head off N'rr's back, she shook it. Whatever had been in that stuff her squad mates had gotten, it really knocked you for a loop. She couldn't remember a damned thing about last night after they had actually started on it, much less why she was using N'rr's back for a pillow.

Shifting around, she stretched out beside N'rr. Sleeping together wasn't exactly strange on a ship like this, and they were squad-mates, so they often slept in the same barracks, sleeping with her head on someone else's back was new though. "Mornin'." She said. "Did… we do anything or did I just use you for a pillow?" She asked, resting her head on her arms and looking over at him.

N'rr shrugged, flicking his tail. "I don't remember anything from lassst night." He said. He didn't feel bad, which was apparently supposed to happen, since it was using things that didn't get used otherwise. "I don't feel achy though." He said with another shrug.

"Huh, I must've just used you for a pillow then, N'rr." Kaalii said, yawning.

Snorting softly, N'rr reached over to stroke her back. "That's not what I'm sssupposssed to be usssed for." He said, coiling his tail around her leg.

Kaalii snorted, shifting slightly under his hand. "Well I probably wasn't exactly in a state for anything else." She said.

N'rr snorted at her, but conceded her point, stretching out. Stroking her back gently, he rested his chin on his other arm. "Do you think we'll find the othersss if we do sssearch for them?" He asked her softly.

Shrugging, Kaalii shifted under his hand. "I don't know, but I certainly hope so." She said. "They were still flying when I last saw them, and there are planets around that might support them if the fighters aren't able to make it back."

As he went to say more, N'rr was cut off by the Commander's voice over the ship's speakers. "All hands hear this." Neeran said firmly. "As of now this ship is at yellow alert and is en route towards where he believes the pirates that assaulted our fighters are based. Repeat, we are on yellow alert pending contact with the enemy."

Sharing a look, Kaalii and N'rr scrambled to their feet and ran towards the nearest turbo lift. If they were on yellow alert, that meant that Tempest had a pretty good idea where those damned pirates were operating from and most likely as soon as they dropped to sub-light speed, they would be launching to scout ahead and form a barrier for the ship.

* * *

Sitting on the bridge Neeran watched as the star lines on the view screen faded back into stars. "Shields up, all fighters prepare for launch." He ordered. "Sensors, get me a sweep of the area. I want to know what's out there and where the pirates might be lairing. Tactical keep an eye open for hostiles, they probably know we're here." He said, flicking his tail.

The problem was that now they were going up against entrenched hostiles whose capabilities they didn't know as things stood. They needed to find out what the odds were and draw their opponents out enough that they had the advantage in each combat.

"Sir, we have three flights of incoming fighters of unknown design, backed by a small capital ship." His tactical officer reported from behind him. "They're coming from bearing one-three-zero by seven-one-six."

"On screen." Neeran ordered, flicking his tail as he stood up. When the view screen switched to display the incoming fighters, he frowned. They didn't look like the ones on the logs from the Nightmares' fighters, but that didn't mean that they weren't part of the same group, after all, there were a few different types of fighter in _Tempest_'s hangers.

He turned to look at his communications officer, who shrugged and shook her head. That meant that there hadn't been responses to communications then, so probably hostile forces. "All hands stand by battle stations." He said, flicking his tail.

Turning back to watch the alien ships, Neeran frowned, studying them. Even then, he almost missed the spurt of flame as one of the incoming ships fired something at them. Obviously these were hostiles indeed. "Incoming!" He snapped. "Helm, come about on heading two-four by five-niner-zero, weapons free. Launch all fighters." He ordered, moving to take his seat again as the ship shivered from an impact. Watching the bridge crew following his orders, he looked at the view screen, seeing bolts of energy fly towards the enemy ships as they manoeuvred.


	4. Explanations

Disclaimer

I don't own Velgarth et al, nor do I own the xenos/aliens, however the characters and Knights are mine.

Note

It took a while, between a trip to the States and my other writing, but here's the next chapter. And I'll warn everyone, I'm working on this in fits and starts because I'm working and have an original fic that is eating a lot of time, and has been going on for over three years.

Reviewers

**Warbender** – Short version, the link is Jacinth. Mostly I'm focusing on her trials and tribulations, but eventually they'll find her. As for updates, as the note says, it may be a while, I've an original fic that's set sort of 12-13 millennia after this going off the timeline for the Knights, as a minimum, I might expand that, which is my main writing project right now.

**SparkyCSI** – I've no idea which intrigues you more, but I intend explaining things in the story. You have, by the way, already encountered one of the mentioned characters in this chapter, namely the Avatar's brother.

**GinaStar** – No you didn't see a lifebonding, just a common effect of too much alcohol after a mission in which friends were lost. The come down from a fight often leaves you feeling like hell, and a lot of the Knights are close anyway, especially having been raised together, so it's natural for them to spend time reaffirming the remaining bonds of friendship.

* * *

Pulling on the dress that Daria had brought her the previous night; Jacinth flicked her tail from side to side. It wasn't the first time she had worn one, but this one was a bit different in both style and cut. The one good thing about it? It was open backed, apparently that was more than a little bit of a novelty around her, and hence why it hadn't been bought before now because most of the humans didn't like showing that much bare skin. The fact that it was also made of better than 'average' materials helped, since that put the price up.

"Keeps wings free. Good." Jacinth said, flicking her tail under the skirts of the dress. "Confines tail though."

Daria shrugged slightly. "It was the best I could do on short notice, especially without dragging you through the streets." She said, studying Jacinth. The alien female looked a lot less out of place now she was wearing local clothes. The problem was that Jacinth was still a black-scaled lizard with wings, which was why she had bought an extra cloak. A long one with a deep cowl, to cover what the dress didn't, like the wings, head and arms. "When we get to Haven we'll see about getting you proper uniforms made up, ones that take your… differences into account." At least with the dress on, she would be able to get through Haven to the palace without attracting as much attention.

Jacinth grimaced at that. "I'd rather stick scales if I can." She said. "Can wear clothes; not that comfortable in them." She added, pulling her dress up so she could flicker her tail properly.

"There're problems with that." Ronlyn said, from where he was sitting. "Humans… as you put it yesterday… are always in heat." He said with a grimace, remembering what had happened then. "We're used to seeing clothed bodies and… you naked might cause problems. Plus there're the stares you got yesterday, dressed, you can blend in to a degree and as a Herald, you need to wear their uniform so others know."

Daria nodded. "Heralds wear a uniform to identify us to people, because they have to recognise us and trust us." She said. "The Guard are the same and at the Collegium, there are several types of students, Heraldic, Bard, Healer, Mage and Unaffiliated, each with a different uniform."

Jacinth grunted, flicking her tail. Uniforms she could understand, since her flight suit was a uniform of a sort. "Still prefer scales alone." She said.

Chuckling, Daria unfurled the cloak she had bought and swung it around Jacinth's shoulders, fastening it closed. "It'll save you some grief at least." She said. "Besides, if you're wearing Trainee Grey, people won't bother you as much because they can see you're Chosen, and Companions don't Choose wrong, as Nath reminded me a couple of days ago."

_:They call it 'infallible' for a reason.:_ Civa butted in from where she stood in the stables. _:Unfortunately, I've no idea what decided that I had to Choose you.:_ There was a definite impression of a grimace as she told Jacinth that.

Jacinth snorted. "_You picked me._" She replied physically, flicking her tail. "_I didn't Choose to be picked._" She said, pulling her tail back in and dropping the skirts of her dress before pulling the hood of her cloak up. Looking around the room, she sighed. "_We might as well go. We can't do more here, and frankly… there's one thing I really don't want people getting their hands on. For a good reason._" She said.

Daria shrugged, following Jacinth from the room. "Probably because Something has decided that we need you for whatever reason." She said. "Hells, we've had everything from farmers to royalty as Heralds, including thieves, lordlings and murderers." She added.

Jacinth arched an eye ridge at that. "Murderers? And you supposed to be law keepers?" She asked. Why the hell would Companions pick people that murdered others if they were so het up about justice and being good?

"You killed." Ronlyn pointed out, following the two females. "And sometimes you get pushed so far you… just snap, and attack whoever is near."

"I killed for reason." Jacinth said, turning to look at him and almost tripping over her dress. Catching herself against the wall, she muttered a curse about her failure to take the fact she was wearing things into account. "I was defending a hatchling."

Daria nodded. "So did they." She said, offering Jacinth a hand. "The thing is, at least one of the 'murderers' was actually bullied a lot, eventually he snapped and his Gift awoke violently, burning his assailants to death." She explained as they came out into the stables. "That was one of our heroes, Lavan Firestorm. He was one of the most powerful Firestarters Valdemar has ever seen and died with his Companion at Burning Pines, stopping a Karsite invasion." She frowned, thinking back over what had been said. "And what did you mean about there being something you don't want people getting their hands on?" She asked, moving to saddle Nath.

As they stepped into the stables, Civa blinked at the sight of her Chosen. She had expected Jacinth to look different, after all she was going to be wearing clothes, and local ones at that, but still… the blue cloak and dress looked very good against the black scales her Chosen wore naturally, and the white of her mane really stood out where it peeped out from under the hood.

Jacinth grimaced, moving to saddle Civa and hoping she wouldn't get the straps in such a muddle this time as last. "_I flew here, but not under my own power._" She explained slowly, her tail twitching under her dress. "_My father is Commander Neeran of the _DKS Tempest_; my mother is Lieutenant-Commander Karinth of the same ship. I was born aboard it and was training to be a pilot for one of the fighters. My squad was attacked on a routine mission, and separated._" She explained, sighing softly at the ache from knowing her parents and friends were out there somewhere. Along with the ship that was her home. "_Because of the damage my fighter took, I had to land here. I left it in a cave in the mountains south of here._" She said, accepting the nuzzle from Civa. "_That… I want to take to Haven if I'm going to be there, I want to have it near so people don't play with it._"

Turning to look at her, Daria leaned against Nath. That was more information than she had heard out of Jacinth so far that had really made sense. She wasn't sure of the connotations of the ranks Jacinth gave, but then all she had to go on was the Valdemar Royal Guard, and they didn't use the same system, it did, however, clear up what the alien youngling had meant about being a 'recruit' when she had woken up. And explained how she had gotten here. "Why do you want it taken to Haven?" She asked, frowning slightly. Daria wasn't sure whether or not taking the thing from where it was, was a good idea.

"_Because compared to the pistols and armour, it's really big trouble in the wrong hands._" Jacinth said, frowning as she tacked Civa up. "_A pistol can kill, and may give people an advantage in ranged combat, but its wielder is still vulnerable. A fighter, even a damaged one, is a lot more powerful, and it's a lot tougher than my armour._" She said. Plus, there was the whole problem of someone messing with the power plant. If that went up, the fireball would probably wipe out a good deal of territory since in effect it would be like unleashing a small sun or nova on the planet.

That… was a bad thing to leave lying around then. Better to get it dragged back to Haven, probably on one of those floating barges the Kaled'a'in had, since from what Daria had picked up from the language Nath had dumped into her head, even though a fighter was considered small, compared to what they knew, it was big. Better that Valdemar had it, where it would be under the protection of the Circle, than another like that blood mage got their hands on it, or worse, some ignorant wanderer or peasant that set things off by accident. "We'll… we'll be in Haven in a week or less, depending on how fast the Companions move. Once we're there, I can try to convince the king to ask the Kaled'a'in embassy for the loan of one of their floating barges to carry this thing of yours back to Haven." She said. "The problem is going to be where it's put, since the other mages and the artificers will want to poke around with it even more than the armour or those 'pis-tols' of yours."

Jacinth grimaced, her tail twitching. "_Not a good thing. If they hit the wrong things… at best it'll just go straight up or hop around, at worst… It'll blow up, and take a chunk of the surroundings with it._" She said. Having an uninitiated person poke around the fighter would cause trouble. "_I can, I think, lock the controls but there is access to dangerous parts to repair them._" She said, looking worried. Even without looking around, she could feel the other four looking at her.

"How big a 'chunk'?" Ronlyn asked softly, moving to touch her shoulder gently.

Jacinth shrugged helplessly. "_Dunno, but possibly the entire city and more._" She said, her tail twitching as she winced seeing the shock and horror in their faces. "_I didn't get far enough through physics to know how badly fusion reactors could blow, except it's like releasing a small sun, or a nova on a place._" She said softly, looking down at her hands.

Nath stared at her in shock. The… thing that had brought her here could, potentially wipe Haven off the map if something went wrong with it. He shivered. That thought wasn't at all comforting. They already had two examples of things with that much destructive power going off. Lake Evandim and the Dhorisha Plains had been blasted open by released mage energies. They _really_ needed to put that thing far away from the artificers' prying if it could do that. King Garth and Kyrith would not be happy about this.

Daria couldn't breathe, her mind whirling around in circles. They had to take the fighter from where it was hidden to protect it, and yet if anyone touched the wrong thing, there would be no Haven. Without Haven, there wouldn't be a Valdemar any more, because there would be no King, no Heir, no Heralds save those out on circuit, and they would die sooner or later without Companions to pick their successors. Of course if the fighter was left where it was, then someone could find it and, wittingly or not, use it to cause havoc, quite possibly tearing apart the bonds that Valdemar was trying to encourage.

Jacinth shifted uncomfortably. Things had started out so well this morning, now all four of her companions were looking at her with various expressions of shock, disbelief and horror. "I might be able to shut things down." She said softly. "No explosion with things disabled." At least she hoped so. If not, then they would have to keep the fighter in complete lock down somewhere out of the way to stop anyone setting it off accidentally.

Flicking her tail, Civa managed to pull herself together enough to nose Jacinth's shoulder gently. _:It's… it's alright, Chosen. You just shocked us.:_ Okay, that was probably a contestant for the understatement of the year award, if not one for the understatement of the century. It was hard to imagine a thing had that much power, and yet there were histories that told of the end of the Mage Storms being brought about by an item from a Great Mage. Civa frowned, flicking her tail. Actually, she seemed to remember hearing that others of that Mage's items, along with his rival's had started the things, and blasted the craters forming the Dhorisha Plains and Lake Evandim. And he had created living beings, namely the Gryphons, some of whom still taught at the Mage's Collegium. _:We… have tales of things that can do that, but they were magic made and local, not something like your 'fighter'.:_

Jacinth's tail twitched. She still didn't like the way the others were looking at her, but at least they were honest about it, and… she had just told them that her method of transport could wipe out their capital. "Can.. can we just leave please?" She asked uncertainly.

Civa nodded, nosing her gently. Despite her shock, she could Feel her Chosen's worry. Poor Jacinth… she seemed so young sometimes, despite the difference in species from the rest of the Heralds. Civa snorted to herself. Yes, Jacinth was different, but so was she, she was a Companion this time out, not a human as she had been last time. Maybe next time she died, she would try coming back as something other than one of those, just for the experience. As long as it was intelligent that was.

Flicking her tail, Civa nudged Nath's shoulder with her nose, waking him from the shock-trance he had been in. _:We need to leave. And you need to stop staring at my Chosen, before she breaks down in tears.:_ She told him before moving to nudge Daria, followed by Ronlyn. Once the other three were at least back in the present, she moved beside Jacinth to let her Chosen mount up.

Climbing up behind Jacinth on Civa's back, Ronlyn slipped his arms around her, letting her lean back against him. It was… odd, having this female around. Sometimes she seemed so grown up, others… others she was a scared little girl far from home. It was also odd hearing her talk about things that were far beyond anything he had seen so casually. There were ships that sailed the stars, weapons that could kill from a massive distance, armour that was made for a person, but was alive in and of itself. Shifting slightly as the two Companions started off, he frowned. Something she had said last night still bugged him. Mainly the fact that she had said she was 'in heat' only once a year as she put it. "Jacinth?" He asked softly.

"Yes?" Jacinth asked, coiling her tail around her ankle to stop it slipping out from under her dress. She still didn't like the thought of wearing clothes constantly, but the dress was nice. Of course, thinking about it kept her from dwelling on what she had let slip about her fighter.

"What did you mean when you said you were in heat once a year?" Ronlyn asked, trying to avoid sounding like he was probing into personal matters.

Shifting slightly as she leaned against him, Jacinth shrugged slightly. "My kind in heat once a year." She said. "We have two month cycle going from this to full heat and back, and only catch during the middle part, when scent makes it hard to think of anything except…." She trailed off, trying to think of a polite way to put it, since while sex was more or less a fact of life shipboard, it was hidden a lot more here. "Well, mating." She decided on finally.

"Oh." Ronlyn said, then blushed. "Oh…." Embarrassed? Very. And here he was with his arms around the female that had just told him that her kind went through two months of near constant sexual awareness and probably activity every year. It was probably a very good thing that she hadn't been like that last night, else who knew what might've happened.

Civa snorted as she followed Nath through the town. _:The more I learn about you, Chosen, the more it highlights the differences between you and everything I'm used to.:_ She said, flicking an ear back at the pair on her back. _:When we get to Haven, I think the Healers should have a look at you, maybe they can come up with a way to postpone your cycles if they're that bad.:_

Jacinth snorted. "Civa, I already _know_ how to postpone my cycles. What I need from your Healers is to know whether there are any of the components for it." She said, causing Civa to turn her head to look at her. Seeing the look, Jacinth rolled her eyes. "My _entire race_ goes through the same things, of _course_ we'd figure out how to delay it."

Civa snorted again. _:You speak far too easily of 'races', as if you grew up with lots of things.:_ She said.

"I did." Jacinth replied. "My squad included humans, my kind, xenomorphs, a Rentaar and others." She said.

Shaking her head, Civa turned her attention back to where she was going. _:I am __**never**__ going to get used to that.:_ She said, flicking her tail. _:And what the heck are those last two? I thought Rentaarii was a planet, but the way you said that, it sounded like a creature.:_

Jacinth shrugged, shifting slightly to prevent things rubbing against Civa. "_Xenomorphs are insectile creatures that were as bad as the armour for forcing things._" She said. "_They used to need to evolve by putting their young in other creatures, but the Rentaarii managed to change it so they're more like other races._" She said, twitching her tail. "_Rentaarii being basically horned talking horses that evolved to stand upright because of something else interbreeding with their ancestors, the unicorns. The other intelligent race on our home world at the time was my ancestors, the Rhyl'naarii, who the race that spawned the Rentaarii also intermingled with, me and mine being the result._" She explained briefly.

Ronlyn frowned, shifting where he was sitting behind her. "I thought these… xeno-things were like the armour. Why would the Rentaarii alter them?"

Jacinth shrugged again. "_It's a legend amongst the Knights. Before the war on Rentaarii a group of Rentaarii left the planet to explore, and were rescued by the first Knights in their ship. Later, but still before the battle they rescued a group of xenos from humans._" She said, shifting slightly in her seat. "_The Rentaarii didn't like the xenomorphs, mistrusting them because they __**looked**__ like monsters and to reproduce, they had to kill members of other species. During the battle, however, the xenos defended the Rentaarii, many taking grievous wounds in the Rentaar's places, and even then, they made the Rentaarii fight the ones that were summoning daemons. When the battle was over, having seen the sacrifice of the xenos, who could've just stood aside since it wasn't their world that was being fought for, the Rentaarii fought to save them._"

* * *

Kieran sat in his office; frowning at the lesson plan he was trying to put together for the latest trainee to enter the Collegium. At least this latest one was actually human, unlike the one that had been found by Companion Civa. The main problems he had right now were planning lessons and trying to figure out just what might be needed. Obviously Orientation classes were required for all new Heraldic Trainees, as were weapons, so that wasn't a problem, but they didn't know just what this 'Jacinth' actually looked like beyond 'winged Hertasi'.

_:With a mane, Chosen.:_ Jos put in from where he stood in Companion's Field. _:Oh, and Kyrith said to tell you that you need to make sure at least one Healer sees Jacinth.:_ He added after a moment, apparently listening to the Grove-born. _:Apparently she needs some things to make her version of moon flower powder, whatever that is.:_ There were other things as well, but Jos didn't really want to think about them.

Kieran groaned, rubbing his temple. Great, something else that they needed to deal with, and something else that would probably delay them starting the year group that Jacinth was going to be joining off. _:Thank you, Hayburner. I __**really**__ wanted to hear that.:_ He replied mentally.

Jos snorted mentally. _:Then you __**really**__ do not want to hear whatever it is that has Kyrith hitting his head against the tack shed wall.:_ He said, flicking his tail.

He blinked at that. _:What?:_ Kieran asked.

_:Just what I said, Chosen, whatever Nath or Civa, or both, reported has the Grove-born trying to put a hole in the tack shed wall using his head.:_ Jos replied, before showing his Chosen just what he meant.

Kieran stared at the sight Jos was showing him. What in havens could have caused the _Grove_-_born_ of all beings to try knocking himself out against the tack shed wall? He wondered, then decided that he probably didn't want to know, since if it did that to the Grove-born, it would probably be worse for a mere mortal like him.

He sighed, leaning back in his chair for a moment after Jos broke the link, before pulling Jacinth's time table out of the pile and stared at it. "What would Jacinth, being an alien, need?" He asked himself. Well, obviously Orientation, since she probably had no idea what being a Herald was about, and it gave them a chance to find out a bit about her and let her encounter her year-mates.

Weapons was another obvious one, since everyone needed to know how to fight, and her people probably used something different to what was available here. Kieran frowned. Geography, and History, she likely wouldn't know the first thing about the layout of the land or its history… he frowned again, jotting things down. Law as well. Everybody needed to know the laws they were supposed to be enforcing.

He looked up as someone knocked on the door. "Yes?"

"You wanted to see me, Dean Kieran?" Asked a young looking Trainee from the door to his office.

Kieran nodded. "Yes, Lena, I did." He said, motioning to her to enter and take a seat in front of his desk. Once she was sat, he shifted some of the papers on his desk. "There is one more Trainee that we're waiting for, and you, unfortunately, are about the closest we've got to what we _think_ her back ground is."

"Sir?" Lena asked.

He sighed. The Trainees would find out soon enough anyway. "Civa Chose about half a ten-day ago." Kieran said, watching Lena's reactions. "The thing is the one she Chose is actually an alien being that looks, so I'm told, like a Hertasi with a mane and wings." He explained.

Lena blinked. "What?!" She squeaked. Being from around Lake Evandim, she had spent her life on the fishing boats there, or rather, on her family's boat. What the heck was she supposed to do with a creature that looked like one of the lizards that worked in the Embassies?

Kieran nodded, shifting slightly. "You aren't the first one to have that reaction, Lena." He said. "And I doubt you'll be the last. As for the question you've probably wanted an answer to. From what Civa has reported of her Chosen's past, she was born and raised on a ship, the same as you were. The type of ship is different though." He added.

She gaped at him. How in the name of the stars was she supposed to respond to that? "Uhh… sir," she started, "Why do you want me to… take this thing Civa Chose on?" She asked, her voice rising towards the end.

"Because you've been here for a couple of years and know how the Collegium works," Kieran said. "And, you were raised aboard a ship, so you know what it's like adjusting to having space after being cramped." He said.

Lena frowned slightly at that. "I'm no expert, Dean, but if this… thing is winged, wouldn't it have made its ship to take that into account?" She asked. "After all the Tayledras birds need a lot of space, and so do the gryphons." She said.

He frowned, then nodded. "True." Kieran admitted. "But you're still the closest I can find to what her life might have been like before she ended up here."

She sighed, shifting in the chair she was sitting in. Obviously she wasn't going to be able to get out of this. "Alright, sir." Lena said. "If I must, then I will, though I do want to know more about this… thing you've assigned me to mentor." She said.

He nodded, settling in to explain the circumstances to her.

* * *

Flicking her tail against Civa's side, Jacinth shifted slightly. They had made it out of the town without incident, though her costume had brought a few appreciative looks. At least that was better than the previous evening, though what the looks meant, she wasn't interested in — not with strange humans anyway — maybe when she went back into heat, she'd find a male she liked, of course, that should be several months away, probably up to three to four years if there was some type of substitute for her own cycle adjusting potion.

At Daria's insistence, she had kept the dress and cloak on, covering most of her body, but now they were alone on the road for the time being, she had slipped the hood off and was eating a leg of something. What exactly it was, she wasn't sure, but it was some sort of human kept meat animal.

"Alright," Daria said, moving to sit next to Jacinth in the shelter of the copse they had found on the side of the road. "I suppose I should tell you a bit more about how things work here." She said.

Jacinth grunted an acknowledgement around her food, her tail flicking slowly. Swallowing the bite she had taken, she looked over at Daria. "Civa told me something of how the current situation came about, and the history of the kingdom." She said, shifting slightly.

Daria nodded. "Then you probably know a bit about where the Companions come from and what Heralds do." She said. "However, before a person becomes a Herald, they have to be trained for the task, which is why we have the Collegium. The Collegium is actually four buildings next to the palace, one for Heralds, which was the first and contains most of the class rooms, one for Healers, which is combined with the Temple of Healing, one for Bards and the last, and most recent for Mages." She said.

"Now, you're a Herald Trainee currently, because Civa Chose you." Daria continued. "That means that once we get into the Collegium, the first stop will be the Dean, who will ask you questions that should point out what lessons to put you in." She shrugged. "While I'm no Foreseer, I can tell you that you'll get orientation and Weapons, they're a given because all Heralds need to go through them. The lessons you'll really need are going to be law, history and geography, since we don't know how long you're going to be here and you will be acting as a Herald, meaning you need to know the laws you are going to uphold, along with the history and layout of the country and our allies." She explained, watching Jacinth as the younger female listened to her.

Jacinth grunted. "Makes sense." She said. "Knights do the same. Sort of."

Daria nodded slightly. At least there wasn't going to be any arguments about learning those things. "The other things that would need checking are reading, writing and mathematics." She said. "With your own language, I'd guess you're as good as others on your ship your age, but I don't know about in our language, so you'll probably have to be tutored on those if they didn't transfer."

Jacinth shrugged. "Better maths, probably. Needed to fly. Especially when going faster than light." All pilots amongst the Knights were good at maths, since it was needed to navigate in space, particularly when plotting FTL courses for any size ship.

She snorted. "I'm _still_ having trouble wrapping my head around the fact you not only live, but work on a ship that can move between _planets_." Daria said, shifting slightly and rubbing Nath's muzzle gently. "Anyway, eventually as you go through the Collegium, you'll get taught etiquette, judgment, and strategy and tactics by the weapons master." She said. "Those, along with Gift lessons, logic and some lessons on how to tell when people are faking Gifts or magic using various tricks will, as things stand, take five years of Collegium life to get through."

_:You'll also receive equitation lessons so we can learn how to work together.:_ Civa put in. _:Which brings up a point, you're a fair rider, despite living on a ship. Why is that?:_ She asked, flicking her tail.

Jacinth shrugged. "I rode at home sometimes. Had a biodeck aboard _Tempest_ where people could relax, and unicorns there that I rode." She said, flicking her tail slightly. "And what Gifts?" She asked Daria.

Daria frowned. "Gifts are abilities that let you do things outside the norm." She said. "The most common among the Heralds is Mind Speech, which is how the Companions talk to us. There are others." She said.

Civa nodded. _:Most people have the __**potential**__ to have Gifts, but only a few actually have them active. Most of them need training in some form or another to stop the Gifts going rogue. The main groups seem to be communication, manipulation and sight.:_ She said, nosing Jacinth gently. _:Bards, Healers and Mages all have different forms of Manipulation Gift, while one type of Communication_ _is how I'm able to talk to you, Sight involves seeing things at a distance, either through space or time.:_ She snorted to herself. _:Even __**with**__ what you grew up with, I still don't get how they are linked.:_

"One of the main things you need with most types of Gift, particularly those that involve communication is _shields_." Daria said. "Because, as I explained to Ronlyn shortly before we found you, without shields, the Gifted person will wander without control and end up either lost in another's mind or insane from the influx of thoughts or emotions from others."

While the others distracted Jacinth, Nath closed his eyes and Reached towards her, trying a probe on her the way he had on Ronlyn. Tried to probe her. He stopped when he ran muzzle first into a wall that might as well have been made out of something harder than steel around the Rhyl'saar's mind. _:Civa?:_ He asked his fellow Companion.

_:Yes, Nath?:_ Civa asked, turning her head to look at him.

_:Can you have a Look at your Chosen and see what Gifts she has?:_ Nath asked, flicking his tail. _:I tried a probe, but I couldn't get in at all.:_

Civa gave him the impression of a frown before gently probing her Chosen. _:She's got Mind Speech, both for humans and other intelligent races, and for animals, and something I can't identify.:_ She said, probing around. _:Some part of Mage Gift, but only part of it.:_ She said.

Jacinth rolled her eyes. "I asked 'what Gifts' not, 'what are Gifts'." She said. "Rentaarii are Healers, and many Knights have powers that you'd probably call 'Gifts'." She said, elbowing Civa. "And you two need to stay out of my head." She told the Companions flatly. "I don't mind being talked to that way, but what's in there is mine, so back off."

Civa grunted. _:We needed to know which Gifts you had so we know what you'd need training in.:_ She told Jacinth. _:And how did you know?:_ She asked, then blinked when Jacinth started giggling, her ears going flat against her head. _:What?:_

"I grew up around 'Gifted'." Jacinth said. "And xenomorphs, which have a hive mind, I know about shielding, and how to tell what's me and what isn't." She said, flicking her tail in amusement. "Besides, bonding with an Aspect gives shields that are stronger than most." She added.

_:So that's what it was.:_ Nath muttered to Civa. _:But why could you get through while I couldn't?:_ He wondered aloud.

Civa shrugged. _:At a guess, because she's my Chosen while you're an outsider, same as you can get better access to Daria's thoughts than I can.:_ It sounded viable anyway. _:Would this bond that gave you the shields have anything to do with that trick you pulled when the demon showed up?:_ She asked Jacinth.

Jacinth nodded. "It's called an Aspect form; it's one of the things all Knights can do. The other thing is weapons." She said, rubbing Civa's neck. "I don't know the origin of them, but the legend is that the Commodore, the first Knight, got them to defeat a daemon that had possessed his life mate's brother and when the Knights were formed the other Aspects took the idea and gave them to their own Chosen to help them fight the ones that try to destroy Nature's balance." She explained, flicking her tail.

Daria frowned, shifting to lean against Civa. "So that's what that thing you turned into was." She muttered. "What are Aspects though?" She asked. Gods, demons, avatars and elementals she knew about, but Aspects? What in blazes were they?

"They…" Jacinth frowned, trying to figure out how to put this. "They're Beings of Power that are supposed to have been formed out of Nature's ideas for what She wanted. They're the Spirits of stars, planets, moons, and even entire species." She said, still frowning. She knew how she had been taught about the Aspects in that they were more powerful and more distant than Gods, and were the full forms of what Nature, the spirit that embodied the universe entire wanted to come about. The big problem was explaining that to someone else, especially when they probably believed in things coming about in a different way. "They're beyond Gods, and came before them." She shrugged. "It's hard to explain, because where I come from, we see Gods and Daemon Kings as equals, spawned from the beliefs of living things while Aspects _create_ races." She said.

Daria frowned, shifting slightly. Different beliefs were nothing new in Valdemar, but that one was rather beyond what she was used to. More often than not people believed in one or more Gods or Goddesses, but believed in them as the highest things in the Heavens, to hear of a religion that said there was something beyond them was completely new to her. "That's… different…." She said. "I've never heard of anything like that."

Jacinth nodded. "What we believe, and there's nothing to say that that isn't right, especially since they exist." She said, clambering to her feet and brushing her skirt off. "And shouldn't we get going?" She asked.

Daria nodded, getting to her feet as well as the Companions and Ronlyn got to theirs. She had a fair bit to think about, again. Mounting Nath, she frowned, shifting her sight to see Mage energies before looking over at Jacinth, Civa and Ronlyn. While Civa seemed no different than Nath in terms of magical energies, both Ronlyn and Jacinth were different. Of course, she knew, thanks to Nath, that Ronlyn had some type of Mage Gift focused on himself, so it wasn't a surprise to find his aura was a bit brighter than most people's. Jacinth however, fair glowed with suppressed power.

Shifting slightly in her saddle, Daria reached out a careful probe to taste the power in Jacinth's aura and blinked. Magical energy, as a rule, was the stuff of life itself. Emotions, living, even blood and death held energy, but the energy in Jacinth's aura tasted a lot more primal than what Daria could tap from the lay lines. It was as wild and free as the wind, yet as stubborn as a fractious horse. Frowning slightly, she probed. The energy, it seemed, was actually leaking to Jacinth, from what she could tell, and if that was the leak from a recent bond, if Daria guessed right and it was from Elsewhere, then meeting an older Knight would probably blind a Mage, especially these 'First Knights' that Jacinth talked about.

* * *

Walking into the Grove that housed the ruins of the temple that King Valdemar had ordered constructed before his death, Kyrith sighed. Here he was, Grove-born, Companion to the King's Own and the most powerful one of the group, and yet _something_ had decided that he needed to find himself barrel deep in interesting things, namely alien problems.

_:Star-eyed, do you hate me so?:_ He asked silently. _:I, who was once among the first to Choose to go through with the plan your Other Self came up with to answer Valdemar's prayers?:_ Kyrith asked, flicking his tail. He had been amongst the first, and the first to Choose the Monarch's Own, though back in those days the post didn't actually exist, at least not until there were more Heralds and more Companions.

No answer. Not that he really expected one. The Star-eyed Goddess tended to be the type to not interfere unless there was no other way, _and_ she tended to look more to the Kaled'a'in and the two groups that had spilt from them, the Shin'a'in and Tayledras more than the Valdemarans, since they had the Heralds and Companions to keep things straight. At least that was the theory that things had been operating under the last time he had checked.

Kyrith sighed, flicking his tail. Odds were that right now, Rolan, Gwena and Taver were up in the heavens enjoying the fact that they could rest, especially if they were looking down and seeing the problems he had. Of course, _Gwena_ had only been down once because Herald Elspeth was to be the first Herald-Mage in centuries.

Flicking his tail, he sighed again, turning to leave the Grove. It looked like he was on his own, left to cope with a Chosen that was not only alien, but one that had been affiliated with another group that he didn't know anything about, and had access to something that could blow Haven up if the wrong person messed with it. Why was it that he got to 'live in interesting times'?

"_I do not hate you, Kyrith."_ A hollow voice from behind him said.

Turning, he sighed, seeing a young maiden standing in the Grove. _:My apologies, Lady. My question was impudent.:_ Kyrith said, bowing his head to the young woman. Raising his head again, he flicked his tail seeing the woman's eyes, which had no pupils or whites, just a sea of stars.

The Star-eyed maiden nodded. _"It is unlike you and the others that guide the people of this land to complain so, Kyrith."_ She said, walking over to Kyrith and stroking his neck gently. _"What has happened that caused you to ask about my feelings towards you."_ She asked him gently.

Kyrith twitched his hide in a shrug. _:Lady, I am sure you know of the presence of the other on our world, the one that came from up there.:_ He said, tossing his head to indicate the sky above them. _:We… have several problems relating to her, the first being that she's been Chosen by Companion Civa, she has also been Chosen by something else and calls herself a 'Hreathrae Dforgrym', and she has access to something that could destroy a good part of Haven if the wrong person messed with it.:_ He explained with a sigh.

The Star-eyed Maiden frowned, stroking Kyrith's neck gently. She had heard rumours amongst the Celestial Powers of a group that fought God and Demon alike for the Mother of them all. _"This female, she would be the one that chased off the demon south of here?"_ She asked.

Kyrith nodded. _:So Civa and Nath have told me, though I know not how.:_ He said.

"_I saw that much. The youngling called upon Powers far beyond herself."_ The Maiden said. _"And my Lord and I have heard rumours of a group that fights deity and demon alike for Our Mother."_ She said, frowning. _"Though I know not what brought one of them here."_

Kyrith rippled his hide in a shrug. _:I do not know, Lady. I might be better to ask Civa, or Nath, or Jacinth herself what brought her here.:_ He suggested.

The Lady nodded. _"I think… perhaps it would be best to see who or what guides this new group as well."_ She said. _"That, I will send one of Mine avatars to find out, but if you can find things out here, it would be a help."_ She said, before fading from sight.

Kyrith sighed. Lovely. That meant that whoever the group Jacinth claimed to be from were, they were likely powerful or had access to the Powers, though Whose was open for massive debate. Turning from the Grove, he headed back towards the edge of Companion's Field. Most likely he would need to enlist all the other Companions in this.

* * *

Leaning against a tree Lena sighed, running a hand through her hair. What had she done to deserve being lumbered with this… thing? Shifting slightly, she frowned. Her own people on Lake Evandim were border bred and almost as insular as the Holderkin on the opposite side of Valdemar. Hells, she hadn't even known what a gryphon was until she had come to Haven, and now she was being asked to play mentor to a thing from somewhere between the stars?

Sighing, she watched the Companions drift towards the old Grove where Grove-born appeared. Whatever that was, no doubt it had something to do with this… this… interloper that dared think it was good enough to be a Herald. She snorted. The hell was it. Companion's Choice or not, from what Dean Kieran had told her, not only was this thing alien, it wasn't even _human_. It was an outsider and didn't deserve to be a Herald.

Another part of her mind told her she wasn't being fair, after all, the Choice made by Companions was infallible, and there were non-human sentients, the gryphons, for example. Still… that she had been assigned to be mentor to this _thing_ that dared think it had what it took to be a Herald galled her.

Hearing the dinner bell start to ring, Lena sighed, pushing her thoughts aside. Galled or not by what she had been assigned to do, she still had classes to attend. Even if this thing wasn't a Herald, she was, and she would fulfil her duty.

* * *

Stripping off the dress she had worn all day in the shelter of the way station, Jacinth shook out her wings. Even though they hadn't been confined by the dress, having to hold them close enough against her back that they didn't make her stand out, even with the cloak, made them ache after a while. Besides, she wanted to do some flying.

Looking up from where she was checking Nath's hooves, Daria arched an eyebrow, seeing Jacinth 'nude' once again. She knew that the youngster was more comfortable without clothes, and that she was only really interested in sex at a certain time, but it was… odd… seeing her like that and knowing that even with the scales, it wouldn't be that hard to find certain things. "Jacinth?" She asked, putting Nath's hoof down.

"Yes?" Jacinth asked in response, her tail flicking slowly as she turned to face Daria.

"Why are you doing that with your wings?" Daria asked, moving to lean against Nath. She had seen some of the other winged things around shake their wings out, but had never really understood it. Of course, all of those had had feathered wings, not the 'stretched skin over a frame' type that Jacinth had.

"Because they ache." Jacinth said, flicking her tail. "Can I fly now? We haven't seen anyone for miles and I really need to stretch my wings." Even though the day in the saddle hadn't done anything for her wings, it had helped her speech, since the more she had to talk, the more she found ways around the differences between human mouths and her own where their language was concerned.

Daria frowned. She didn't really want Jacinth out alone and getting into trouble, but it wasn't right to deny the younger female her freedom after she had managed to handle two days on the ground. "I can't say that I like the thought of you out alone given your status here at the moment, but I don't want to deny you the freedom either given how you've tolerated everything I've made you do." She said, shifting slightly as Nath reached around to nuzzle her.

Her tail flicked, almost sure that she was going to be denied again. Jacinth wanted to fly, to feel the wind around her, holding her aloft. Sighing, she turned to find a place to flop near Civa and Ronlyn.

Shaking her head, Daria got up and walked over to Jacinth, and put her hands on the younger female's shoulders as she knelt in front of her. "Are you sure you'll be able to find the way station again, if I give you three hours after we've eaten to fly?" She asked.

Jacinth blinked, looking up at Daria. "You-you'd let me fly?" She asked uncertainly. When Daria nodded, Jacinth's tail flicked. "Even if I can't find the place again by sight, I can find it through Civa." She said. She really wanted to fly, that had been why she had been drawn to the fighter pilot corps aboard the _Tempest_. Flying was a passion for her, and even if she hadn't been born with wings, like Kaalii and N'rr.

Daria smiled. "Good." She said, before getting up to check the food that Ronlyn had started preparing. "Then once Ronlyn's finished cooking, we've eaten and got the four-foots settled, you can have three hours to stretch your wings." She told Jacinth, before nodding to Ronlyn when he asked her about how he was doing.

* * *

After everyone had eaten, Nath watched Jacinth head outside and leap into the air, flying away from the way station. The young female seemed to be starting to adapt to at least some things on their world, yet there were still times when she reminded you just how truly 'alien' she was to their world and ways.

Even as young as she seemed to be, there was a strength to her that Nath couldn't doubt. He had seen that before, most every Herald possessed some type of inner strength, combined with not a little stubbornness and a deep sense of honour. It was at least in part that which made them Heralds. Daria had it, Ronlyn had it, and no doubt the entirety of the Herald Circle had it. Then there was Jacinth. An outsider, Chosen by one of the Companions, yet as young and out of her depth as she was, she tried hard to deal with things, and now she and Daria were friendlier to one another, he could see more respect from Jacinth towards _his_ Chosen, and compassion from her for what the youngling was feeling.

He turned slightly as Civa joined him, watching her Chosen disappear into the gathering night. _:You worry for her, don't you?:_ He asked her softly.

Civa nodded. _:She's so young and vulnerable, and so far from home, that I'm worried about her, and about what the others will say about her.:_ She said, her ears going flat. _:Even among the Heralds, there will be people that have trouble with her because she isn't one of them, isn't human.:_ She snorted softly, flicking her tail. _:And the Companions will have the same issues as the humans, because most of us _were_ human at one point, even though our generation of Heralds is long dead. Then there's the court, and sooner or later she'll have to face them, and give the King her allegiance.:_ She said. That actually _did_ worry her, since Jacinth wasn't human or from this planet, and who knew what ties she had to her own people that the oath might clash with.

Nath nosed her gently. _:We'll handle things as we get to them.:_ He said. _:She's already adapting to the language, which is a big step considering she didn't speak a word of Valdemaran when she arrived.:_

Civa snorted. _:That's because we helped.:_ She said.

_:And we'll help again when we need to.:_ Nath told her.

* * *

Landing on the ground a way from the way station, Jacinth moved to lean against a tree, her tail flicking slowly. Soon enough they would arrive at this 'Haven' place of Civa's, the problem was that there were going to be a lot of unknown humans there, ones that would likely look at her in askance or hostility the way the ones in the last town had before Daria had gotten her clothes.

Sighing, she looked up at the stars over head, her tail flicking slowly. "Wish I could get back up there." She said softly. Up there were her home, friends and family. Unfortunately she couldn't _get_ up there without a working fighter, and that was a long way away currently.

Flicking her tail slowly, she watched the stars overhead as the wind tugged at her wings. There was one good thing about being on a planet; the air was real and fresh, unlike the canned air of the ship. Jacinth shifted slightly, scratching at her arm absently. This world was so different to everything she was used and yet, she was stuck here for the duration.

Watching the stars spin by, she didn't see the black clad figure that silently slipped away from where it had stood watching her.

"_The creature is just a little one, my Lady."_ The dark figure said on reaching a glade where a woman clad in dark brown stood. _"Though she has access to more power than perhaps even she knows. It seeps into her from Elsewhere."_

The Warrior nodded slightly. _"I had guessed as much,"_ She said, shifting slightly, _"from what Kyrith told me."_ She said, frowning slightly. _"New players have entered the game, or old ones have re-entered it. I do not know which, but I can see things shifting around a lot in the near future."_ She said, frowning.

The sword sworn arched an eyebrow at his goddess. _"New players, My Lady?"_ He asked.

The Warrior nodded. _"Aye, and seeing the young one, I needs must find out more of what they are about and whether they are a threat to Me and Mine."_ She said before disappearing from sight.

* * *

Something was wrong. She didn't know what it was, but there had been the slightest hint of the ripple that seemed to suggest something crossing from one plane to another. J'karryn- M'rwentoc paused, frowning. Even after the past half a century or so, she still wasn't used to being here, in the realm of the Being that had taken her brother as His own.

Drawing her sword, she moved slowly towards the lake near an ancient stone ring, pausing when she saw another standing there.

Narrowing eyes of molten silver, she made her way forward slowly. "Who goes there?" She called out, once she was within easy distance of the other.

The Warrior turned at the sound of the voice. "The people that worship Me have given Me many names, though 'Star-Eyed' is the most common." She replied, scanning the area the voice had come from carefully. "Are you the one behind the new group that fight demons?" She asked.

J'karryn snorted, moving forward slowly so she seemed to appear out of the forest around them. "No, the One that made this Realm did, through my brother and sister." She said, lowering her sword but not sheathing it yet.

She cocked her head slightly. "Then, who and _what_ are you?" The Warrior asked.

"I am J'karryn-M'rwentoc of Harrenthias." J'karryn said, watching the Warrior closely. "I _was_ human, but when I died, I was approached by the Aspect, Tr'wynoth, who offered me a place in His Realm, in exchange for service to His Mistress, and Mother." She said frowning slightly as she remembered what that had entailed. "Now, He says, I am the Avatar of Nature Herself."

That… had not been anything like what She had been expecting in response to Her question. Nature's Avatar? Was the Mother of All taking a hand in events now? She didn't know where this 'Harrenthias' was, nor who 'Tr'wynoth' was, but there was a ring of truth in this silver-eyed human's words.

J'karryn narrowed her eyes, watching the Warrior. "Why are you here, 'Star-Eyed'?" She asked, shifting slightly.

"Because one claiming to be from this group of yours is on My world and causing troubles for those My Lord and I chose to keep order there." The Warrior replied.

J'karryn frowned. "We did lose some younglings not long ago." She said.

The Warrior snorted softly. "This one appears to be a black lizard-creature with wings and a white horse's mane." She said.

Running a hand through her hair, J'karryn frowned. The description sounded familiar. Wasn't that the one that had been bound to a Horse Aspect a few days ago? "I think I know which one you mean." She said, moving over to the lake to summon the image in its waters. Seeing the creature that appeared, she nodded slightly. "Yes, it's the one I thought it was." She said, turning to the Warrior. "That's Jacinth, daughter of Commander Neeran of the _Tempest_. Her squadron was bringing supplies to their ship when they were attacked and three of them didn't return; she was one of them."

The Warrior frowned. "She is Chosen as a Herald of one of the lands on my world" She said, shifting slightly. "If she is Chosen, then within her lifetime, there will be need of her and her abilities." She stated.

"She was born to the Hreathrae Dforgrym though," J'karryn said, standing. "She will see herself as one of them and will act appropriately. She also comes from a species that are not shy about sexual things, and have different biological needs and cycles to those on your world, if your current form is representative of one of the species there." She said, watching the Warrior. "Likewise, her views will be outlandish to your people, and her parents are in charge of one of the current largest ships of the line the Dforgrym have, they will want their daughter back when they find out where she is, and that will bring even more strangeness to your world's way of thinking."

The Warrior nodded. "In all honesty, I think it is past time that some on My world found out that there are more things to heaven and earth than they would care to dream of." She said. "Since you seem to be the one speaking for this new group though, I would know more about them before allowing them access to my people."

J'karryn sighed softly, then smiled slightly as she remembered something. "If you'll come with me, I know someone who can explain things better than I could." She said.


	5. Reckonings and Awakenings

* * *

Disclaimer

Disclaimer

I don't own Velgarth et al, nor do I own the xenos/aliens, however the characters and Knights are mine.

Reviewers

**Warbender** – I'm trying, that's for sure. And I have a fairly good beta reader, who is also my writing partner on the original.

**SparkyCSI** – Thanks. There's a bit more from the 'Powers and Dominions' in the next few chapters, though I'm not yet showing off what They can be all at once — especially the older ones — since this is supposed to be about mortals and dealing with things alien to your conception of the world

**GinaStar** – Thank you.

**Oneswordsworn** – She runs into a few things, though I'm keeping some bits quiet for this chapter. Since it is more the Knights side, it's more likely to come up in relation to them.

* * *

"That's about the size of things, Vkandis." The Maiden said, leaning against a pillar in the other God's realm. "The All Mother had a Plan in mind which has been going since the start of Time, and has only recently born fruit, that fruit being in the form of these clerics and paladins who are Chosen by Her First Born." She shrugged Her shoulders, watching the Sunlord. Her meeting with J'karryn had produced some rather surprising revelations, including that the Mother of All, Nature Herself, had long since had a hand in guiding the way of things.

The meeting had also shown the Star-Eyed just how wrong some of Her worshipers' ideas about the way things had come into being was. Somehow, she doubted that Her worshipers would manage to stand the shock of meeting the Father of the Dragon races from one of the near by stars, of course, 'near by' was a bit of a misnomer.

"And one of the reborn ones that guide Valdemar has Chosen to bind herself to one of these paladins?" Vkandis asked, shifting on His throne. He frowned when she nodded. "This 'paladin' will cause a great deal of trouble while it is here." He said.

"She." The Star-Eyed corrected, and shrugged at His look. "I have already seen the paladin, she is little more than a girl, no different from a hundred others of her kind save for two things, although she was born noble, she was raised amongst a group of beings as an equal to them, and because of her raising, she possesses many of the qualities that make a Herald a Herald, or even show some of Your own priests as worthy of attention from their reborn fellows." She said, waving at the Firecats lazing around.

"You sound like You have already half made up Your mind to favour these paladins of the All Mother." He said dryly.

She nodded slightly. "Things came about sooner than We had, perhaps, imagined." The Star-Eyed said. "Civilization, however, moves forward at a pace dictated by mortals, not Gods like Us." She said, bending down to stroke one of the Cats that came over to her. "Already the humans of Valdemar and other lands are starting to turn to machinery to make their lives easier. Mayhap introducing one from a group past that stage will help guide their steps." She shrugged slightly.

He grunted, shifting slightly. "And maybe it would lead to worse things." Vkandis said, looking at Her. "And remember the humans of Valdemar _still_ have trouble accepting the _Hertasi_, Kyree and Gryphons. If this girl paladin You sponsor is anything other than near to human looking, she will find difficulties with them." He said grimly.

The Star-Eyed sighed softly. "She likely already has." She said, picking up the Firecat. "She is not human, nor does she look like one." She said, stroking the Cat. "Her race, I was told, are called Rhyl'saarii, and they are humanoid dragons, reptilians with wings and tails, but also manes like horses."

"If she hasn't yet, she likely will from what You say." He said, frowning. "Do the Heralds know what they are getting?" He asked Her.

"Not… the entirety of it." The Star-Eyed said. "They know some, or at least some of them know some of it." She shrugged. "Outside of the one guiding the Paladin… Jacinth, that's what J'karryn called her."

"Who?" Vkandis asked, looking up at his opposite number.

"J'karryn. J'karryn-M'rwentoc really." The Star-Eyed said. "She's… well, she is to the All Mother what Dawnfire is to me apparently. That's what she told me, and what the Dragon Lord Aspect of her world confirmed."

He blinked at her in shock, He couldn't help it. To meet an Aspect was a feat in itself, the beings being even more remote than they, but to meet one of the All Mother's First Born? One of the Lords of the Aspects, that was something far more rare. "You met with one of the First Born?" He asked. "One of the Ones that birthed the stars and their worlds?"

The Star-Eyed shook her head. "Not one of the Star Creators, but He was one of the oldest, and one of the first to hear the All Mother's plans to keep her Balance." She said. "He and His closest court Chose the first of Her Paladins, who have already become legends amongst their own kind." She explained, trying not to laugh at His shock. It hadn't been that long ago when She had, Herself, been as shocked as He when J'karryn had led Her through the Realm to the two massive Aspects. If the Power from the ex-human had been formidable, Theirs had been beyond anything She had imagined, it was no wonder that the daemon had fled from Jacinth when she had used a _slight_ amount of that Aspect's power.

Vkandis swallowed, feeling, for once, completely out of his depth. "Tis no wonder You would support this Jacinth, paladin, Star-Eyed." He said. "If she has the backing of such a Being."

"Not one as strong, I think." The Star-Eyed said. "Lord Tr'wynoth is one of the Elders, only the Aspects of Stars and other ancient races are as old as He. Young Jacinth is bound to a Lesser Aspect, one from her own world of Rentaar. Even She would be a formidable opponent for a daemon or one of Our angels though." She said.

He nodded slightly, shifting forward on His chair. "Then I think We should try to prepare Our worshipers for her, and her kin, and try to be ready for the Aspects of our world to stir should more of the paladins… the… what did you call them?" He asked.

"Hreathrae Dforgrym."

"The Hreathrae Dforgrym then, arrive." He said.

She nodded. "J'karryn said her brother, their leader, will keep his people away from here for a while, but eventually they will come, seeking their lost daughter. Her parents, in particular, will wish to find her." She said.

* * *

Riding on Nath towards Haven, Daria cast a look at her charges as they rode beside her on Civa. It was odd to think that barely a week ago she had had no idea that there were other creatures beyond those on her planet, or that there was such technological marvels as the things that Jacinth had brought with her, as limited as those were. Now though, they were getting ever closer to Haven, and to the rest of the Heraldic Circle, which would probably react to Jacinth the way she had herself, if not worse, for here was a creature, not human, taking a role in their group, which had always been purely human before. At least the Heralds were all humans save Jacinth. There were still the Companions to take into account.

_:A lot of them will probably have at least some of the same problems that you did.:_ Nath said dryly. _:We are just as fallible and prone to seeing things as 'wrong' when they are simply different as humans.:_ He admitted.

Daria snorted softly, shifting as he moved. _:In all honesty, it was seeing her in town last time that really brought home just what she was.:_ She replied, rubbing his neck. _:She's still so young, and that made her look even younger. I wonder what sort of childhood those like her see, the ones born on ships like the one she talks about.:_ She murmured, musingly.

Nath rippled his hide in a shrug. _:Probably much like her, capable, used to seeing fighting, but still children at heart, ones that look to their parents and the seniors of their group for leadership, love and examples to follow.:_ He said.

_:Yes, but what a life, always moving, and being stuck aboard a ship most of their lives.:_ Daria said, shifting her seat.

_:It's no different than the trader caravans that roam around or the fishers around Lake Evandim.:_ Nath replied, flicking his tail at an annoying fly. _:The only thing is that their 'harbours' are further between than most.:_ He said. _:Why don't you ask? It would give you something to talk about on the way.:_ He suggested.

Shifting slightly in her seat, Daria looked over at Jacinth. "Jacinth, what was your childhood like?" She asked. "We keep hearing about things, but it's piecemeal, and I, at least, would like to know about your past rather than the legends of your people." She explained. "And it'll let you work on your Valdemaran." She added.

Jacinth shrugged her wings under the cloak Daria had bought her. "It was good." She said, flicking her tail against Civa's side. "As I said before, I was born aboard the _Tempest_ and lived there my whole life." She said slowly. "My parents are Commander Neeran and Lieutenant Commander Karinth, they're both Rhyl'saarii, and were some of _Tempest_'s original crew." She sighed softly, leaning back against Ronlyn as Daria reached over to squeeze her shoulder.

"You miss them, don't you?" Daria asked gently as Nath walked next to Civa.

Jacinth nodded. "Them and my friends; Rhen, Gerry, Kaalii, N'rrehesssiss and the others." She said, flicking her tail slowly. "I grew up with them, we played together in our parents' quarters or on the bio-deck, rode on the unicorns that lived there and swam in the lake." She said, smiling slightly at the memories that brought up.

Civa blinked. _:You had a _lake_ on a _ship She asked incredulously. _:How in havens is that possible?:_ She asked. How the heck did you put a lake aboard a ship, let alone one that travelled between worlds?

She shrugged. "I honestly don't know." Jacinth said. "It's part of the bio-deck, which, when they built the ship, they set aside something like twenty percent of the decks for it, then used some sort of soil to let plants grow, and probably set something up then and filled it with water from somewhere." She shrugged again, flicking her tail. "I'm not a ship designer, so I don't know much about how they design and build them."

"What about your training?" Daria asked. "You seem to know a lot of things, and you handled yourself well in the fight I saw."

"I've been training since I was five." Jacinth said. "I learned unarmed and armed fighting, history, mathematics, basic science, and was learning how to fly a fighter." She said.

Daria shifted slightly. "Well, while you'll have a massive head start on most of your fellows in combat training, you'll be getting more history since ours isn't yours." She said, making Nath snort. She shrugged, looking over at Jacinth. "I think Equitation will be a challenge until we get a saddle made for you, but then, with that armour of yours, you can get away with more."

Jacinth shrugged and went to say something, but stopped as she caught the smell of blood on the wind. Frowning, she sniffed the air, trying to figure out just what type of blood she could smell, since every species' blood had a slightly different scent.

Feeling Jacinth tense against him, Ronlyn shifted slightly to look at her. "What's wrong?" He asked her.

"Blood on the wind." Jacinth replied, sniffing the air. "Human blood and horses' that I can identify, I think there's more, but can't tell what." She said, flicking her tail.

Stretching out her neck, Civa sniffed the air herself and snorted. She hadn't caught the smell of blood, but now Jacinth had mentioned it, she could smell blood. _:You've got a sharp nose, Chosen.:_ She said, flicking her tail.

Jacinth flicked her tail again, looking at Daria. "Should we investigate?" She asked.

Daria nodded slightly. "We should, if you can locate it." She said, shifting slightly. "Someone might be in trouble."

Jacinth nodded, flicking her tail. "I can find it." She said, shifting slightly before pointing ahead of them. "Up ahead, about… four hundred metres given the strength of the scent."

"Huh?" Daria asked, nudging Nath with her knees and getting a snort from him as he started moving in the right direction, followed by Civa.

Jacinth bit her lip. "Err… less than thirteen hundred and thirty five feet, I think." She said.

Now that sounded a bit more like the measurements that Daria knew, still that Jacinth could smell blood from that far away would be a boon on scouting missions. She drew her sword as Nath picked up his pace to a trot. Times like this would really make that armour of Jacinth's, and Ronlyn's, valuable. If it could be donned and released anywhere near as quickly as it had seemed to be when Jacinth had faced down the bandits, then coming upon combat would be a lot less of a problem than it was currently.

As she rode Civa, Jacinth's tail flicked. Trying to fight in the dress and cape would only cause her problems, but her armour could be summoned as soon as she had a little distance from the others. The problem was Ronlyn; he was a farm boy, not a fighter. Frowning slightly, she managed to unholster her pistol as she rode and took one of his hands, pressing it into it. _:Ronlyn:_ She said mentally. _:Use the pistol. Point the end opposite where you're holding at anyone you don't recognise as friendly and pull the trigger. Don't worry about not seeing anything come out; it works at a different 'wavelength' to what you can see in. You'll see the effects well enough though so watch where you aim.:_ She told him quickly before shifting focus to Civa. _:Civa, Ronlyn's no fighter, you'll have to keep him safe if you can. If you're going to fight with me, get him somewhere that he won't be caught first please.:_ She asked.

Ronlyn blinked. He had heard Daria and Nath talk in his head before, but this was the first time he had heard Jacinth, and her voice was different to theirs. Of course, that might be because of the situation. "What do you mean?" He asked, into her ear, clutching the pistol in his hand.

_:What about you?:_ Civa asked, casting a glance back at her Chosen. _:Will you use that armour again and fight?:_

_:If need be.:_ Jacinth said. _:Don't know if there's a need yet.:_ She shrugged her wings. "You're no fighter; the pistol is ranged and easy to learn the very basics of. It ought to help you stay alive." She told Ronlyn over her shoulder as they broke out into a clearing with bodies scattered about.

Reaching the edge of the clearing, Nath dropped his pace quickly until he had stopped, looking around at the scene in front of him. The bodies and burning wagon suggested that someone had attacked one of the trader caravans that roamed around the world, though just what had happened beyond people being killed was hard to tell from what he could actually see.

The sound of an equine scream of pain and rage had them all whipping around as it followed by a curse and the sound of Companion hooves striking the ground.

Slipping off Civa's back, Jacinth made her way a bit away from the others before summoning her armour with a mental command. The armour appeared differently this time, shadows crawling out of the trees to cover her and solidifying into a layer of armour, followed by pure blinding white light, then fire cooling to ice. The ice was covered in water that was electrified before eventually the wind solidified into earth that cracked off to reveal her armour. "Well… that was different." She muttered, flicking her tail.

Watching Jacinth, Daria shook her head before drawing her sword from where she had kept it strapped to her back after the farm. That armour really could get people's attention. "That was a Companion." She said, swinging down off Nath and moving forwards slowly. "Which means it's likely that there's a Herald or Heraldic Trainee here, whether new Chosen or one out visiting I've no idea, but we've got to help." She said, moving towards where another equine scream emanated from.

Jacinth nodded once as she moved forward to flank Daria. Whatever was happening here, it wasn't likely that this had been accidental, nor did it seem to be for any good reason.

Moving around the burning wagon together while the Companions backed them up, they approached the area that the screams had originated from. When they came into view of the battle, Daria stopped, blinking. There were two Companions fighting against over a score of men as they stood guard over something.

Jacinth growled as she saw the humans attacking the Companions. The near-horses were out numbered by quite a large amount. Lashing her tail, she looked over at Daria. "These are your people being attacked." She said harshly. "How do you want to do things?"

Daria frowned, shifting her sword slightly. The situation was bad enough that there wasn't much time to think. "We'd be best of trying to cut through and join the others." She said finally. "And using whatever we've got to break things up." She said. "Not exactly good tactics, but it's what we've got given the situation."

Jacinth nodded slightly. At least it was better than just standing around doing nothing. "I think… if Civa and Ronlyn stay at range, maybe us the pistol I gave him to pick some off while we get in, then mix it up." She said. "I'm not armed, but I'm armoured, and have natural weapons, you're more likely to be injured though." She said, looking Daria up and down.

"I know." Daria said. "But it's a risk inherent in being a Herald, just as it is in your family's profession." She said before taking a deep breath. "I'd rather the boy didn't kill yet though." She said. Daria had reasons for that, several of them. "Let's get this done."

Nodding, Jacinth shifted slightly before charging forward with Daria. Hitting the hostiles from behind, they managed to catch several off guard and cut them down before breaking through the fray to the pair of Companions. Grunting as she was hit by a sword, Jacinth spun around and lashed her claws across the bandit's throat.

Skewering a bandit on her sword, Daria called on the magical energies of the surrounding area to blast a pair that were attacking one of the Companions with lightning. Yelping as a blade scored her back, she stumbled forward, going to one knee, she parried a second blow by putting her sword back. Pushing the other sword away, she swung her own around in a low arc that hamstrung her opponent.

Breaking through the humans standing between her and the Companions, Jacinth turned to face the humans again, growling. Shifting slightly, she lashed her tail before fainting towards one of the ones facing her before dodging the other way to strike at one of the man's fellows, breaking the man's ribs. Hearing Civa enter the fray, Jacinth looked up and sighed in relief to see that her Companion wasn't carrying Ronlyn.

Seeing a flash off to the side of her HUD, Jacinth ducked instinctively as a sword whistled through the space where her head had been. Looking up, she watched as the man's headless body collapsed into the mud while what was left of his head splattered over the surrounding area. Smiling grimly, she stood up and attacked again, grunting as a sword cracked against her arm.

* * *

Covered in blood, Daria dropped against one of the burned out wagons that were scattered around the battlefield with a sigh. Leaning back, she watched Jacinth checking over Civa and Nath while Ronlyn talked quietly to the newly Chosen twins, whose family had run this trade caravan. The pair — a boy and a girl — were obviously scared, and stuck close to their Companions.

Shifting slightly, she grimaced as the wound on her back pulled. Fortunately that had been a glancing blow, unlike some that Jacinth had taken, but Jacinth did have the advantage of incredible armour which let her wade into the thick of things while others couldn't.

Finishing cleaning up the wounds Nath had received, Jacinth turned to the two young humans and their Companions. This was probably going to be… awkward. She put a hand on Civa's snout when the Companion nudged her gently before crossing to where Ronlyn knelt and touched his shoulder gently.

Kneeling next to him, she had her armour disengage from her and looked at the two humans. "Hey there." She said gently, her tail flicking slowly. "I'm Jacinth, who are you?" She asked.

The children — who only looked about the same age as Ronlyn — looked up at her with wide, terrified eyes.

Jacinth sighed, and flicked her tail slowly before looking at the two Companions that had, apparently Chosen the pair. "I'm Cadet Pilot Officer Jacinth, recently of the _DKS Tempest_ and also recently become a Companion Soldier bound to Companion Civa." She told them. Boy was that a mouthful and a half, and that was missing out the title of 'Herald Trainee' that Daria had given her. "Herald Daria, Nath, Civa, Ronlyn and I were going to Haven when we came across this mess. And I'd like, if I could, to check your wounds." She said, flicking her tail. She looked over her shoulder as it brushed something and nodded slightly to Daria. "Sorry, Herald." She said.

"Not a problem Jacinth." Daria replied, shifting her weight carefully. Even though Jacinth had patched her up fairly well, she still hurt from the fight. "Could you ask Civa to relay to Haven for Healers and Guard to escort us the rest of the way and make sure our wounds are tended?" She asked.

Nodding slightly, Jacinth frowned, requesting Civa contact the other Heralds and get them to send people out to assist them here. Getting a confirmation, she nodded to Daria. "Civa's doing it now." She said, flicking her tail slowly as she watched the others.

Daria nodded, moving forward slowly and talking softly to the pair until they let her in close enough to check them over.

Waiting until Daria had the kids distracted, Jacinth moved slowly up to the Companions, gently touching the nearer one's shoulder. When it jumped, she carefully rubbed its neck. "Easy." She said softly, refraining from giving it a gender until she actually knew which it was. "Predator I might be, but having fought to keep you alive, I'm not going to eat you." She told it before moving slowly to check and clean its wounds. "Besides, from what I understand, Civa wouldn't have Chosen me if I was that way inclined." She said.

* * *

It was quite the procession, Dean Kieran thought, as he watched the newly Chosen ride up to the Heralds that had gathered to see them home. When he had first heard of the attack on the trading caravan, he had worried a lot over what might have happened should Daria and her charges pass that way. It seemed, though, that he should not have worried. Daria was a trained swordswoman, as well as a Mage, and there had been four Companions there, a force that few bandits would like to face.

He watched her for a moment, escorting the twins that had been caught up in the attack and Chosen during it. Even though she had been injured in the fighting, she held herself proud on Nath's back, watching over the young ones. Shifting his gaze back, he studied the two people riding on Civa. One was obviously human, wearing clothing befitting a townsman from one of the less important towns along the trade rode, even though he was young enough to look like one of the Trainees. The other, however, was the one that drew his attention.

Shifting slightly as the Heralds parted before their fellow and the newly Chosen, Kieran studied the young woman. She was tall enough that it would be hard to guess her age on the basis of her height alone, and wore a rich blue dress, and a hooded cloak. With the hood up the way it was now, the 'woman's' face was hidden in shadow, but it had to be Jacinth, the alien girl. No one else would ride Civa, and he doubted that Ronlyn and Daria would be as comfortable around someone else dressed that way as they apparently were if it was another.

Stepping forward as the Companions stopped in front of him, Kieran extended his hand to Daria after she had dismounted. "Daria, I swear you have the SunLord's own luck." He said.

Taking the offered hand, Daria snorted. "Tell that to my bruises and my battered sensibilities." She said dryly. "Jacinth is a constant source of confusion to me."

"Oh?" Kieran asked, shifting slightly. "When we get everything settled down, you'll have to tell me about your journey and what you know of her." He said before turning to the others that had come in with Daria. "Welcome to Haven, and to the Herald's Collegium." He said, studying them all. "I am Herald Kieran, Dean of the Collegium, and I know all of you have been through a lot to get here, some more so than others." He said.

Waiting until Ronlyn had dismounted from where he sat behind her, Jacinth slipped off Civa's back herself. Standing next to her Companion, she studied the older Herald, her tail flicking slowly under the dress she was wearing. He seemed the competent sort, though his look — if she was reading him right, which she might not be given he was human — suggested that he tended to like studying and teaching over anything else, like Ensign Nichole Harris, one of the humans aboard her ship, and the one that had taught her the history of the places they knew about.

Reaching up, she flipped her cowl back and shifted slightly, aware of the suddenly intensified scrutiny from the people gathered around. At least this time, though, most of the stares felt like they were curious rather than hostile.

Kieran blinked when Jacinth dropped her cowl. Even though he had been expecting odd, and alien, thanks to the information he had gotten through the Companions and King's Own, he hadn't been expecting her to look like she did. Her white mane stood out starkly against the black scales of her face, she wasn't what he would class as beautiful, but then, she wasn't human either, but she was certainly striking in her way.

Stepping forward, Kieran offered his hand to Jacinth. "Trainee Jacinth," He said. "I have heard of you, youngling, and while I am grateful for the help you have provided, I have to wonder just what changes you bring with you."

Jacinth flicked her tail as she took the hand. "Herald… I am not here by choice, but by circumstance." She said uncomfortably aware of the other Heralds' interest. "I am a pilot, and my people were attacked, I came because I had to. By what Civa and Herald Daria have said, even though I was born a Dragon Knight, by Civa Choosing me, I am needed here, at least for now." She said, flicking her tail.

Kieran nodded soberly. It was odd to see one so young to be so serious, and yet, she was touched by events. "Trainee, you are not even of our world, and yet you have already done us services." He said. "I can not say that I am comfortable with a non-human as a Herald, though I have had more time to adapt than most." He continued, shifting slightly. "And yet, you are Chosen, and on our world. By our laws, that makes you a Herald, or will once your training is finished." He said. "As I said before, you bring changes with you, Jacinth. Maybe you represent not only the things that exist beyond our world, but also a showing of what non-humans are capable of, up to and including becoming Heralds themselves."

Jacinth flushed under her scales, her tail flicking as the Dean turned to the pair they had rescued. She looked up in time to see Daria give her a wink and a smile. At least she was doing something right then. Maybe things would work out after all.

* * *

After getting the three new Trainees settled into the Collegium, Kieran, Jodi and Daria retired to Kieran's office. Settling into a comfortable chair in front of the fire, Kieran watched as Daria found herself a place to sit, and leaned forward slightly, no doubt due to the injuries she had received. He waited until she was settled and a servant had given her a glass of wine. "Daria, you've had the most exposure to Trainee Jacinth, could you give us your observations about her?" He asked.

"She's competent enough," Daria said, shifting carefully and sipping at her wine. "But she's also a young girl that's far from home, and she's not used to being the subject of a lot of attention, especially not hostile stares." She said frowning. "A lot of people will probably see the scales and wings and see her as something to be feared or distrusted, at least until we get her into uniform and make people see that rather than the scales." She said. In all honesty, she had been the same way until she had seen how those looks had affected Jacinth.

"Why would a Companion Choose her?" Jodi asked, frowning slightly. "Even with the intelligent races we have around here, none of the Companions have Chosen a non-human before."

Daria shrugged carefully. "That I don't know." She admitted. "But there's more at work than just the Choice of one Companion." She said. "Jacinth has power, that isn't hers. Where it comes from I don't exactly know, though she did say something about it being linked to the 'trick' she pulled when facing the demon the mage summoned when I first encountered her, and she said that was something called an 'Aspect form'." She explained. "She also said that Aspects are, by her beliefs, things that represent ideas that nature had, and some pick knights to fight for nature. Jacinth is apparently one of those knights."

Kieran frowned, rubbing his chin with his hand. "That still doesn't explain a Companion's Choice being used on her." He said. "Even if — and I'm not saying I disbelieve what you say _she_ believes — but even if these 'Aspects' do exist, what one of them would choose and what a Companion would be looking for would surely be different things."

"Maybe so, but her people made their armour seek out a certain combination of traits." Daria pointed out. "A similar combination, Nath told me, to what he was looking for when he found and Chose me." She said, shifting slightly.

Jodi arched an eyebrow at that. "How do they make armour look for someone's personality?" She asked, leaning forward.

Daria shrugged slightly. "By using a living creature that became 'armour' anyway and changing it to look for certain things instead of simply doing what it wanted." She said. It was strange how you could get used to things in a relatively short space of time. When she had first heard about that, she had been mistrustful and disgusted by the thought of altering something to do what you wanted it to. But then, wasn't that what people did with most domesticated animals anyway by controlling the breeding?

Jodi and Kieran both choked on that one. "They did what?" Jodi asked, shocked.

Daria shrugged. "What Jacinth said — and granting we're trusting the word of an alien girl, but what she said was that they found a creature that tried to force itself on people, but in so doing, granted them the benefit of armour that's at least as tough as our plate-mail." She explained. "Obviously one of the higher ups decided that if they could change that to work in a way that wasn't so much on the armour creature's part, it would be worth equipping their people with it, so they set out to do that and obviously succeeded, since I've had one for well over a week, in close proximity to me for a week, but it only reacts to Ronlyn, and even then, it hasn't tried jumping him the way the one Jacinth has did when she called it." She said, frowning slightly as she recalled what Jacinth had told her about the armour.

"How would they even begin to do something like that?" Kieran asked, leaning forward intently.

"I have no idea." Daria replied, "Though apparently they've done other things like it." She said, shifting slightly. "One group of them were sort of the same as the armour in that they did things through force." She said. "Apparently, that same group saved a lot of one the other groups during one of their first battles, which brought them together." She said. Of course, she was only going on what Jacinth had told her and Ronlyn during their journey.

"Why?" Jodi asked. If this group that Daria was talking about had done that, there must have been a reason for it.

Daria shrugged. "No idea, it's something you'll have to ask Jacinth about once she's rested."

"Along with everything else." Kieran noted. "And that brings up another point that I was meaning to ask you about. She seems to know our language a lot better than she should given she's a complete outsider."

Daria nodded slightly. "She is, mostly because Civa and Nath did something like the language trick the Dyheli use to give her our language, and three of us, hers." She said, rolling her shoulders to stop them tightening up. "Her grammar has improved a lot over the time she's been with us, though she does drop into her native tongue every so often, probably because it contains words for things we haven't developed yet, like 'space ships' and 'star fighters' and other things that make my head spin." She said.

"What are those?" Jodi asked, confused by the unfamiliar words.

"A more or less literal translation of two things Jacinth's language contains." Daria said, shifting slightly. "The first are basically what I said, ships that can travel in something called 'space.' From what I gather from Jacinth's language, that's the stuff between planets rather than the area between me and you, and most creatures, or at least most like those on our world and Jacinth's can't live there. The ships are designed to protect from that." She explained, frowning as she translated the unfamiliar words mentally. "The other, from what I'm guessing, are one person versions of the ships, and one of them is how Jacinth ended up here in the first place."

Jodi frowned slightly. "If a ship is designed to protect against things between planets, whoever designed it must have access to much greater technology than we have here." She said.

Daria nodded. "And Jacinth was a pilot. Navigating there is likely harder than down here, if for no other reason than things are a lot bigger." She said, sipping her wine. "Maths is probably one of her stronger subjects, followed by her own people's lore." She told them, shifting slightly. "She's also fair at equitation and hand-to-hand combat." That much was obvious given how the girl had handled the fights she had been involved in.

Daria frowned as something tugged at her memory. "Actually… that brings up a point." She said. "Jacinth came here in a 'fighter' as she calls it; she left it in the mountains to the south of here." She told the pair of them. "It's apparently fairly powerful, and not something to be left lying around."

"So… that was why Kyrith tried to give the tack shed a new window using only his head." Kieran said, frowning slightly. If he had heard about something like that from Nath or Civa, he might well have been tempted to do what Jos had shown him doing.

Daria blinked. "Huh?" She asked.

Jodi grimaced. "While you were out, either Civa or Nath told Kyrith about Jacinth's problem with her 'fighter'." She said, shifting slightly. "Kyrith… wasn't impressed." She admitted.

Daria grimaced. "You mean they told him what she said about it, which is that it's worse than the armour and weapons she brought, and has a very nasty thing for a power source." She said. Given she had seen what had happened to the people Jacinth and Ronlyn had shot, and there were the Dhorisha Plains and Lake Evandim to show how badly things could explode… Daria wasn't exactly keen on either option that they had regarding Jacinth's fighter.

Jodi shrugged. "I'd… assume so." She said, shifting slightly. "And how nasty is 'nasty'?" She asked, leaning forward slightly.

"Jacinth didn't actually know herself, but her _guess_ was that it could take out a good chunk of Haven." Daria said softly. She winced mentally at the looks Jodi and Kieran gave her. No doubt this was what Jacinth had felt like when she had told them back in Tindale. "As long as things are contained, they should be alright; after all, Jacinth _lives_ aboard a ship that has at least that sort of power source, probably worse." She said. "And the ship has apparently been operating for twenty years without problems."

"I'm not sure I like the thought of something like that sat in the centre of Haven." Kieran said slowly.

"Better here with its mistress than left in a cave in the mountains." Daria retorted. "Since here we can at least ensure no one that might try harming us or our allies finds it." She said. "At least we _know_ that not only does she know how to use it, but she's also on our side, as Civa's Choice proves."

"True enough." Jodi said. "But we also have a lot more people here than there are in the mountains." She said. "Which means more people to watch out for."

Daria nodded. "True, but if we put it somewhere where few people went, and had Jacinth lock it down, we would be safer with it here, as would our allies." She said, shifting slightly.

"I can't say I like it." Jodi said, frowning. "And I doubt the King will like it either, but as you said, better we have it locked down than leave it for anyone to find." She said.

She nodded again. "The other thing," Daria said slowly, sipping her wine. "Is that Jacinth isn't one of a kind the way we might find change-beasts; she's a member of a growing species that's in advance of us. No doubt some day one of their ships will pass near enough to find us and her." She told the pair. "And, from how she talked, I think someone might have already discovered our world, even if they hadn't made contact with us before."

Jodi made a face at that. "I can see more than a few members of the council having an apoplexy at hearing that." She said. "And that's in addition to the fact that not a few people, Heralds included, will look at Jacinth in askance because she's not human. No doubt they will say that only _humans_ can be Heralds."

Daria snorted. "Despite what I, myself thought about her, Jacinth has dealt with more in her short life than most of the council combined." She said flatly. "She's already fought three battles that I've seen the results of, and claims another which drove her here." She leaned forward slightly, grimacing as her back pulled. "And she's put up with the indignities I've put her through very well all things considered." She added.

Kieran sighed. "We know that, Daria, but how many others would think about it?" He asked. "Even among her fellow Trainees, there are those that are likely to react badly to her because they think that we humans are superior to other races. Seeing her armour and weapons, and 'fighter', and knowing that they aren't human made will just make them more reactionary because they're pushing people's noses in what is possible and what others have done that we haven't." He said as Jodi nodded.

"Unfortunately, Kieran is right." Jodi said. "Right now most of the Heralds that have seen her are probably wondering just what's going on and whether it isn't the boy that Civa Chose. Once they realise that Civa Chose Jacinth, they are likely to react according to their natures. Some will accept her, others will distrust her despite the fact that she's Chosen, and yet others will want Civa to repudiate her Chosen because a Herald 'must' be human."

Sighing, Daria nodded. "I know, and in a way I'd _like_ her people to show up, just to rub people's noses in things." She said, then snorted at the other pair's looks. "What? I've had to deal with these things; I don't see why I should be alone." She said.

"You," Kieran said, wagging a finger at her, "just like being awkward."

Daria shrugged. "Maybe, but I'd also like to meet some of Jacinth's people, to see what they're like." Especially the girl's parents, who must be worried over her now, not knowing what had happened to her, or where she was. "Actually, I'd kind of like to send a message to them to say that their daughter is here and safe." She said.

Jodi shifted slightly. "We always have, but I must admit that I'm… uncomfortable about the thought of talking to other aliens, especially when I don't know anything of their race, or their language." She said honestly. Particularly given they still didn't know what those beings might think about them and the way Jacinth had been Chosen, or how they might react to 'lower life forms' like them.

Daria nodded, then surprised herself with a yawn. "Uh… sorry, I guess I'm more tired than I thought." She said.

"You have had a long day, Daria." Jodi said gently. "Why don't you go and rest. Morning will come soon enough for all of us." She said.

Nodding, Daria levered herself out of her chair, said her goodbyes and left the pair to seek her room.

* * *

Opening her eyes to the sound of bells, Jacinth flicked her tail, waiting for a moment to see what the bells signified. When the bells had died down to silence, and several moments passed without them starting up again, she rolled out of the bed that had been provided for her, and looked around the room.

Last night, she and the twins had been taken around the complex that they were supposed to be their home and school for the next five years. The question was; what was she supposed to do now? She was pondering that thought when the door opened behind her. Turning, she arched an eye ridge at the girl in the doorway. "Yes?" She asked.

Lena shifted slightly, staring at the other. It had to be Jacinth, since there was — as far as she was aware — nothing else that looked like that. It also looked weird with black scales, a white mane and bat-like wings sprouting from under her shoulders.

She was so distracted by Jacinth's appearance that she missed the question and had to shake herself before she remembered why she was here in the first place. "Um… Trainee Jacinth?" She asked, a little timidly. She hadn't been expecting something like this. Despite her smaller size, Jacinth's presence reminded her of a gryphon. She sighed softly when Jacinth nodded. "I'm Trainee Lena, Dean Kieran asked me to show you around and make sure you got everything you needed." She said.

Jacinth nodded slightly, her tail flicking slowly. "Herald Daria said something about uniforms being part of the things I would need to get when I got here." She said. She made a face. "She didn't say much about the layout of this place though, so I don't really know where I'm going."

Lena nodded slightly, managing to keep her lip from curling. There it was again, the presumption that this… thing… could be a Herald. "I'll take you to the housekeeper, after breakfast." She said with an effort. "This way." Lena said gruffly, turning and leaving the room, leaving Jacinth to catch up with her.

Jacinth blinked at the way Lena left so hurriedly, then snorted and moved to catch up. Apparently Lena was one of those like the ones in Tinsdale, except she was _trying_ to be semi-polite. Flicking her tail, she fell in beside Lena. As they walked, she noticed several people — probably other trainees in the main — watching them curiously. "Everyone in this section recruits?" She asked.

"Yes." Lena said. "It's girls only here, the boys are on the other side." She said gruffly.

She nodded slightly. That made sense, even if it wasn't how things were done back home. Of course, back home, there were several species that matured at different rates, here there only seemed to be humans. "What about later?" Jacinth asked. "Humans, from what I understand, start seeing potential mates during the time Daria said training takes, and you're always in heat."

Lena blushed. She couldn't help it, hearing something so blatant about something like that made her embarrassed, despite how closely packed together her family had been. "None of your business." She said flatly, trying to cover her embarrassment.

She led Jacinth down the stairs to the hall where meals were served in silence. "This is the main hall." Lena said. "We eat here together three times a day before lessons, after them and at midday." She said, trying to keep her voice flat and factual rather than letting what she felt show.

Jacinth nodded slightly, flicking her tail as she looked around. The hall was large enough to sit a lot of people, and no doubt soon enough everyone would find out about her, which could make meal times… uncomfortable. Although that said, Lena was uncomfortable to be around anyway. Even being a military brat in effect, Jacinth was sure that there wasn't this much formality or stiffness aboard Tempest. Of course, a ship needed its crew to work together, which meant they had to have some kind of bonds. Hearing people coming behind her, she moved out of the way, watching as they went to find tables, and cast looks at her. "What about food?" She asked. "Is it set or are you given a choice? And do they take special dietary needs into account?"

"Uhh… dietary needs?" Lena asked. "What're those?" She asked, looking at Jacinth. What the heck was the lizard talking about anyway?

She shook her head. "Like the Healers saying you need to eat more of this or that, or you can't stomach certain things." Jacinth explained. "I'm a carnivore, which means I eat mostly meat." She shrugged her wings. "In fact, about eighty-five to ninety-five percent of what I eat is some type of meat, but one of the other girls I knew back home was the other way. Her species are herbivores, so she couldn't stomach much meat compared to me, but ate a lot more plants." She explained.

Oh. Well, that did make some sort of sense. After all the Dyheli were plant eaters, but the gryphons ate meat. "Not… that I've heard of." Lena said, moving out of the way of the other trainees. "But there's never been a non-human Herald." She said. Lena frowned slightly as she thought. "Breakfast is usually porridge, toast and such, but… maybe if you talk to the chef." While she didn't like the thought of Jacinth as a Herald, Lena wasn't vindictive enough to want her to get sick from eating the wrong things. "This way." She said, leading Jacinth through the crowd towards the kitchens.

Following Lena to the kitchens, Jacinth looked around as most everyone in them looked up and stared. Most were in what Daria had said was the Herald Trainee uniform, but one of them wasn't. He was big, for a human, and with a ruddy face that spoke of excessive exposure to heat. Stepping forward, she flicked her tail slowly. "Are you the head cook?" She asked.

Looking down at the odd black lizard, Taro nodded. He wasn't sure what to think of this one, since it certainly wasn't a _Hertasi_, not with the black scales, or the mane, or the wings.

"Good." Jacinth said, flicking her tail. "I'm Jacinth, Civa's my Companion." She told him, watching the faces of the people in the room. "And because of my species, I can't eat a lot of plants, so could I have meat please?" She asked. What a rigmarole, just so she could eat properly. Jacinth hoped she didn't have to do this too often, or she could find some way of getting her own breakfast, even if it meant she didn't eat with the others then.

Lena shifted slightly, making a face at the mention of Civa being her Companion. Why in havens would a Companion Chose a non-human anyway? Okay, sure the _Hertasi_, gryphons and _dyheli_ were intelligent, but no Companion had Chosen one of _them_, so what made Jacinth special?

Taro blinked again. A lizard Chosen?! That was new. Though there had been rumours amongst the Trainees this morning about three new Trainees having arrived with a lizard that had fought for them and killed several people. Maybe the rumours were wrong about just what the status of the 'lizard' was. "I think I can come up with something for you, Lady." He said. "Is there anything in particular that it needs or does it just have to be meat?"

"Just meat." Jacinth said, relieved that the human wasn't going to make much fuss over things.

He nodded. "Then if you'll take a seat in the hall, Lady, I'll have a server bring you something when I've got it." Taro said.

Nodding, Jacinth headed back outside, her tail flicking slowly. Finding herself somewhere to sit, she frowned as something occurred to her. She hadn't made any fuss about being 'nobly born', yet for some reason, the cook had called her 'Lady' anyway. "Why did he call me 'Lady'?" She muttered.

"Because he calls _everyone_ 'Lord' or 'Lady'." Lena said, taking a seat opposite Jacinth. "Why? Does it mean something?" She asked.

Jacinth shrugged her wings. "I'm just not used to hearin' that sort of title." She told Lena, looking up and nodding as someone brought her a tray of meat. "Especially given what others have said here."

"So what are you used to being called then?" Lena asked. She had to admit a certain amount of curiosity was stirring about Jacinth. The other wasn't what she had expected, even knowing that she was alien and lived on some sort of ship.

"Recruit, generally. Sometimes other things if the senior squad leaders and pilots are being scathing." Jacinth said with a shrug. "Usually when I mucked up something during training I'm getting to be a Knight pilot."

"There ain't no knights here, lizard." A boy that was sitting a couple of seats down from Jacinth said. "And how come you got meat when we gots porridge?" He asked, pointing at her plate with his spoon.

Jacinth rolled her eyes and snorted. "Because, human, I can't stomach that stuff. I have to eat meat." She said, lashing her tail briefly as she glared at him. "And there is one of the Hreathrae Dforgrym here." She added. "Me." She said, her tail flicking slowly. "I was a Knight before I was Chosen."

The boy looked confused. "Huh?"

"Shut up Bert." Lena said flatly, glaring at the boy. "Let her tell her story." She said, unconsciously letting her perception of Jacinth slip from 'outsider thing' to 'person'. She still didn't like the thought of Jacinth as a Herald, but she was still a person.

Jacinth shrugged her wings, chewing slowly and swallowing the food she was eating before looking between the pair. "There isn't much to tell." She said, flicking her tail. "I grew up on a space ship — a ship designed to move between planets, giving a fully enclosed environment for its crew to live in." She explained. "A few days ago, I was out on a simple supply run and ended up getting into a fight, which forced me to land my own ship on this planet." Jacinth said. "Civa Chose me a couple of days later."

Okay, so that was the ship, right? Though how something could move between planets — assuming there were other… scratch that, Jacinth was probably proof of there being other worlds, since she didn't have the hodge-podge look of creatures from a Circle, and there weren't any others like her that Lena knew of. "Yes but what _are_ these 'Hreth-ray For-grim'?" Lena asked, stumbling over the unfamiliar words. And what the hell were they doing moving around in the heavens?

"Huh-re-th-rae Duh-for-grim." Jacinth corrected. "It isn't actually my language, but it means 'dragon knights'." She explained. "Basically we're Nature's protectors; we keep the balance and ensure that supernatural and extra-planar beings stay where they're supposed to." She shrugged. "Beings like daemons." She said flatly. Daemons were, from what she understood, nasty bastard that had an irritating habit of trying to tip the Balance.

"So what?" Bert asked around his porridge. "Do you summon them or something?" He asked her caustically. Having heard some of the reports on demon summoners, he wasn't exactly a big fan of them.

"I don't think that's what she means Bert." Lena said, shifting uneasily. The intonation on Jacinth's words was odd… and it sounded more like someone that despised the thing they were talking about.

Jacinth shook her head. "We kill them, and the ones that summon them." She said flatly, making both of them choke. "We get weapons that hurt them, and Aspects, Beings that represent Natures ideas, Choose us and lend us their Power to deal with them."

That must require a hell of a lot of nerve given what she had heard about demons and their ilk from the mages. Lena shifted uncomfortably. If what Jacinth said was true, and among Heralds there wasn't any need to lie, and… from what she could tell of Jacinth, she didn't lie easily, but even then…. "Have you ever seen a demon?" She asked suspiciously.

"One." Jacinth said. "A mage summoned it when I reclaimed my armour and killed his thugs. I used my Aspect form and ran it off just before Civa Chose me."

_:Is that true, Meren?:_ Lena asked her Companion silently. If it was, maybe Jacinth was worthy to be a Herald after all. Maybe more so than some of the Heralds she knew.

_:Civa says it is so, Chosen.:_ Meren replied after a few moments. _:She says that Jacinth turned into some type of creature made out of white flame and the demon that had been summoned took one look at her, turned around and bolted back the way it had come.:_

Lena blinked in shock. You couldn't lie mind-to-mind, but that sounded crazy. Of course, she was sitting here across from an alien lizard that said she had faced down a demon. "That… sounds insane." She managed.

Jacinth shrugged. "It's true." She said. "And my run in isn't anything compared to the legends amongst the Knights about our leaders, and about how the other race from my home world actually got drawn into things." She told them, between bites of food.

"How old are these legends?" Bert asked, leaning forward slightly. If Jacinth was telling the truth and the people she had been with killed demons, it would make things a hell of a lot easier if they had that sort of support should someone like the pre-Hardorn War Karse come knocking on their door again.

Jacinth shrugged. "Fifty years as far as the Knights are concerned."

He snorted. "Heralds 'ave been goin' longer." Bert drawled. With that short a time, it was easy to make things up to suit yourself.

"That's true." Lena admitted. "We have a history stretching back sixteen hundred years or so." She said, shifting slightly.

Shrugging her wings, Jacinth shifted slightly. "Knights are young compared to Heralds, but we also have more area to cover." She said. "Heralds, from what Daria said, have always looked after Valdemar. We Knights already have three planets under our protection, and we're exploring and expanding." She said, flicking her tail slowly. "_And_, we had discovered this planet before I landed here." She told them.

Lena arched an eyebrow at her across the table. "Oh?" She asked. That, if it were true, was news to her. "So what do you call it then?" She asked.

"Rhyl'seer Four." Jacinth said. "Fourth planet from the star we call Rhyl'seer." She shrugged at their questioning looks. "It's easier to name stars than planets, since you generally have fewer stars than planets. Of course, that doesn't mean that planets aren't named, but not usually by the scouts."

"Fourth?" Bert asked suspiciously. "There are other worlds sharing our sun?"

Jacinth nodded. "At least three, though whether creatures like us could live on them I don't know, since I don't actually have access to the reports on them." She said, then cocked her head as bells rang out again. "What's that mean?" She asked.

"Class." Lena said with a grimace. "The bells tell us when classes start and finish, and when the people with specific chores, namely helping out in the kitchens, need to go to help Taro." She shrugged. "That's something else I have to take you to the housekeeper for, as well as uniforms." She said, getting up and gathering the things she had used up to take to be washed.

Flicking her tail, Jacinth followed Lena's example. "Uniforms are likely to be a problem." She said. "Since I doubt you stock any with wing or tail room."

Lena nodded slightly. That was likely to be a problem. Though that said, she still wasn't sure about Jacinth being a Herald. She was beginning to like her as a person, but as a Herald? Maybe if she proved herself. "We'll have to sort something out." She said, leading Jacinth over to where the dishes were collected for washing.

She nodded when Jacinth placed her plate for collection. "Come on, I'll show you where the housekeeper is." Lena said. They both should be getting to lessons, but Jacinth needed to get some things done first.

* * *

Slipping into her class wearing a grey skirt and a matching shirt that had been slit down the back to give her room for her wings, Jacinth flicked her tail slowly. She was the last one in, but she had the excuse of needing uniforms, which currently consisted of similar shirts and skirts to the ones she was wearing, at least until the housekeeper managed to make some for her.

"You took your time, Trainee." The Herald at the front of the class said.

Jacinth shrugged her wings. "I had to get uniforms, sir." She said, flicking her tail slowly, conscious of the others staring at her.

The Herald didn't turn. "That is no excuse for tardiness, Trai—." The woman turned and cut off abruptly as she saw Jacinth. She narrowed her eyes. "So." She said. "You're the one that seduced a Companion." She said flatly.

Jacinth's tail lashed. "Civa picked me, Herald." She said just as flatly. "If you have a problem with that, I suggest you take it up with her rather than me, since I was quite content to be simply a pilot aboard my father's ship." It was like Daria when they first met over again, except twice as bad. At least Daria had had _real_ reasons for her distrust.

The Herald grunted. "Take your place." She said gruffly, pointing to an empty chair. "Let's see if you have the intelligence to understand what being a Herald is about."

She snorted, moving to sit, carefully, in the chair. The problem with being on a planet dominated by humans — Jacinth thought — was that they built everything for themselves, which obviously didn't help her given she had wings and a tail to deal with. At least she didn't have to wear shoes though. The Housekeeper, another woman that had grumbled a great deal about the work of making special uniforms, had decided that they couldn't make shoes for Jacinth's feet.

Flicking her tail, she ignored the looks from the Chosen that hadn't seen her before and focused on what the Herald was saying. Most of it she had already heard from Ronlyn and Daria, but this Herald was going into more detail than they did.

* * *

Of course, it helps if keeps the scene breaks... First they ditch asterisks, now bullet points? This is ruddy annoying.


	6. Plans

Disclaimer

Disclaimer

I don't own Velgarth et al, nor do I own the xenos/aliens, however the characters and Knights are mine.

Reviewers

**Warbender** – I'm certainly trying to, so I'm working on things slowly.

**SparkyCSI** – grimaces I'd noticed that, and have gone back and edited the previous chapters. I _wish_ would stop playing around with that though, since people generally use some type of symbol for the scene breaks.

As for the people, we'll see. Things are moving on both sides right now

* * *

Standing on one of the observation deck of his massive ship, the golden dragon flicked his tail slowly as he went over the report that had come in from the _Tempest_ a few hours ago. Scowling slightly, Ghrathryn read over the casualty list. The assault on the pirate base had been the first true test of the _Storm_-class' capabilities, and despite the odds against it, the _Tempest_ had performed remarkably well. Of course, the fact that it had a veteran commander probably helped.

"The younglings did well." A voice said, seeming to come from every part of the room. "And _Tempest_'s sister will arrive at the base soon enough with the transports." It said.

Ghrath snorted, not bothering to look around for the source of the voice. After five decades, he was finally getting used to the fact that the 'oversized bucket of bolts' that he had apparently inherited from some very distant ancestor was not only sentient, but inclined to put his own two copper into things. "I know Annihilator." He said. "But I still can't help but wonder if we shouldn't have sent reinforcements before they attacked the base."

"Reinforcements from where, Commodore?" The ship asked. Annihilator knew only too well how thinly stretched they were. Even with three worlds, they had only barely managed to crew him, the five cruisers, and a couple of dozen destroyers as yet. Frankly, people couldn't train and get into the ranks fast enough to keep up with the demands placed on the small force. "While we are in a better position than your ancestor when she stole me from the ones that built me and took me to Harrenthias, we can't train too many people without more facilities and teachers, which we cannot get without getting people into uniform."

Ghrath sighed, flicking his tail. "I know Anni." He said, resting an arm against the window and looking out at the stars. It always amazed him how sharply defined they were out here, amongst them. "But sending them against a base, when the Storms haven't been tested in real assaults was stupid."

The ship snorted. "They performed well, and the base was taken intact." He said. "That is what you wanted, isn't it Commodore?" He waited while Ghrathryn nodded. Millennia hiding in the depths of a gas giant watching over the world to which he had been brought by those that had stolen him had taught him both patience, and a respect for Nature and her ways, despite being artificial himself. "Simulations can only get so much, real experience is what our people need, Commodore." He said. "Without it, we cannot get the people that can do what we ask of them, and without it, we cannot teach their successors enough to be able to put them in those situations." He told Ghrath, firing his thrusters to maintain his position as a small craft appeared on his sensors. "And speaking of which, I believe that not only has the _Dart_ arrived with the personnel we needed, but your sister has just appeared on the biodeck." He said.

That made Ghrath push away from the window quickly. "J'karryn's here?" He asked the empty room.

"Affirmative Commodore." The ship responded, switching from one set of speakers to another as the dragon hurried from the room. Annihilator chuckled softly to himself. The youngling truly cared for his Avatar sister, amongst others. That and the fact that he felt himself inadequate for the job he had landed himself, but still doing it anyway were the reasons the ship felt Commodore Ghrathryn a better commander than the one that had once been assigned to him, before he had been stolen.

* * *

Holding the sleeping blue and gold hatchling against her, J'karryn smiled as she soothed the little one into sleep. The little one's siblings lay on the hot sands near by, sprawled near their parents. This one had been awake, and adventurous enough to wander away from the sands. Sword calloused fingers stroked between his horns as she looked around the biodeck with silver eyes.

"I see you've found C're and M're's latest clutch, J'karryn." Ghrath said, flicking his tail as he walked towards his sister, towering over her because of the dragon blood in his veins. They shared a father, but their mothers had been different and from different realms. J'karryn was pure human, while Ghrath was half-Franthoryn.

J'karryn smiled slightly. "_Aye, brother, I did._" She said, shifting her hold on the little one slightly as he yawned and snuggled against her. "_And I have some good news for you._" She said.

Ghrath cocked his head, his tail flicking slowly. "Oh?" He asked his sister. Smiling slightly as she shifted the child. It had been a long time, but once upon a time, she had held him that way as well. Quite a lot after his parents, and two of their other siblings had been murdered. "What kind of good news?" He asked.

"_That missing child pilot?_" J'karryn asked, looking up at him. "_The one from Tempest?_" She pushed her hair behind her ear as he nodded. "_She's alive, and on a planet that has its own version of what you are building._"

Ghrath blinked. "What planet? Where?" He asked. If the girl was still alive, they had to get her back, or at least let her parents know that she was alright so they wouldn't worry for her quite as much as they obviously had been when he had last talked to her father.

J'karryn held up her free hand to forestall him. "_Don't go rushing off to dive in with both feet, Ghrath._" She said, before taking a deep breath. "_Jacinth is on the planet your scouts named Rhyl'seer Four, however there's a problem._" She told him.

He flicked his tail. "What kind of 'problem'?" Ghrath asked.

"_One_ _of the Goddesses of the world visited me not long ago._" She said, shifting the hatchling carefully to stretch her arm slightly. "_Apparently Jacinth not only got herself Chosen by one of the Aspects and received her weapons, but also got herself picked by one of the talking horses down there._" She explained. "_Said talking horses are Reborn, and they are called on to pick people to guide one of the lands. Companions they're called._" She said. "_It's a tradition started over a millennium and a half ago to keep evil from infesting a land called Valdemar the way it infested the land that the first king of the land, and the person that gave it his name, fled from with his people._"

His tail flicked as he frowned. There was no reason to distrust his sister's information, especially since she could confirm things for herself easily enough, having access to Tr'wynoth's Realm. The problem was the fact that one of the children of the Knights had been taken to keep an unknown land straight and true. He snorted softly. A fighter to keep the law? That could bring trouble, if other things hadn't already. "What types of people live in this 'Valdemar'?" He asked.

Her brother was thinking again. Assessing threats and starting to figure out responses, among other things. "_Humans primarily._" J'karryn said. "_Unfortunately they're not the type we had on Harrenthias, or the ones here, or even that girl that was brought over with the xenos._" She said, making a face. "_They're probably about what you'd expect from a small town that doesn't have much, or any, outside traffic, and very few examples of other sentient beings._"

Ghrath grimaced. That was _not_ going to go down well at all. Especially if they reacted to the girl in any way like the way the Rentaarii had reacted to the xenos. "And the child will be going through the same thing the xenos were." He said, lashing his tail. He didn't like it.

"_Probably, but we're rather too far away for us to do anything about it currently._" J'karryn said. "_And the Goddess that came calling, actually asked me to stay out of it and keep our people out._" She said.

"Oh?" Ghrath asked, arching an eye ridge at his sister.

J'karryn nodded. "_They have other intelligent species there, though the most obvious ones are Gryphons._" She said. "_Frankly, I think She is jumping at an opportunity that was either provided by luck, or by Someone playing around. Possibly to find at least one unbound Knight to handle hellspawn._" She said, frowning slightly.

Ghrath nodded. "It'd make sense at any rate." He said, then grimaced. "Though having seen what the xenos went through, I wouldn't wish it on any of ours, especially not a child." He flicked his tail slowly. "That said, sending in a ship to a backwater is likely to cause even more ruckus." He said.

She nodded slightly. "_I think that was part of why the Star-Eyed Goddess asked that we stay out of things for a while._" J'karryn said. "_It's easier for youngsters to adapt to one another, and Jacinth has a head start as far as racial peculiarities are concerned. If any of you older ones went in, things would likely explode, even with Ryn's best efforts to prevent it._"

He made a face at that. "Considering most of us are disinclined to take crap from people, I can see things exploding, assuming other things don't happen first." He said.

"_Exactly._" J'karryn said. "_Which is why, unfortunately, I have to ask you to keep the ships away from there, which will likely mean lying to her parents. At least for a time._" She said. "_So the people there, or at least some of them have a chance to start adapting to the presence of a lone Rhyl'saar._"

"Assuming they're willing to." Ghrath said grimly. "Knowing how some can be, you can bet that the hard-line conservatives will be having fits just knowing about her." He said.

J'karryn nodded sadly, then looked off into the distance as something Reached her. "_I am being called._" She said, moving to put the child back with his parents. "_We'll have to continue this another time, brother._" She said, and smiled slightly, warmth showing in her silver eyes. "_Give my best to your life-mate and children._" She said, before fading from the biodeck.

Ghrath snorted in amusement. "I will, sis." He said, flicking his tail. "I will."

* * *

He floated in a warm, viscous liquid, breathing through a specially designed mask that covered the front of his head. Unfortunately for N'rr, it also prevented him from seeing anything useful, since it had to go over his mouth, and that meant it covered his eyes, which were inside his mouth.

Even that couldn't dampen his mood though. Despite the fact he had lost his leg, and half his arm, which were why he was in the tank in the first place, he couldn't help but be happy. Not only had they found Rhen, alive and mostly whole, but the Commodore had received word from some source that he didn't understand that Jacinth was alive and well.

His tail twitched within the confines of the regeneration tank. Two of his missing squad mates were alive, and one of them had been found. Unfortunately they couldn't go to collect Jacinth because of something going on between the Higher Powers, but at least she was alive. That only left Gerry as missing. Hopefully he was still alive somewhere like Jacinth.

N'rr twitched again as one of the medical staff released a nutrient mix into the liquid that he was floating in. He could feel it absorbing through his exoskeleton, letting him 'feed' without having to come out of the gunk that help regrow his missing limbs.

* * *

Frowning at the holo-map in the tank in front of him, Ghrath flicked his tail slowly. The Rhyl'seer system floated in the tank as it likely would in space, since the map was based on actual sensor readings from the last scout to go out that way.

He couldn't send in any ships larger than a strike without risking things being upset worse than they already were, but… Commander Neeran was desperate enough to find his daughter that it might not occur to him what the result of interfering with a developing civilisation might be. And if _he_ wasn't, then his wife certainly should be.

Ghrath snorted softly in amusement, smiling slightly. No parent liked to see their children in trouble, especially not when that parent had already lost one child. Rhyl'saarii usually had pairs or triplets when it came to clutches, like his mother's species had between two and five to a clutch. Neeran had already lost one child; he certainly would not want to lose another.

He couldn't send in any of the capital ships, but maybe he could send a scout out that way again under the premise of checking other systems beyond the Rhyl'seer system for space capable races or empty — preferably habitable — planets that could be colonised or at least have bases set up on them. Though that said, putting a sensor probe in the system — since they had detected an alien civilisation in the system, one which might well develop space flight on its own — was likely viable. And if the probe just happened to contain a data transmitter and receiver that would allow Knight equipment to interface with it and access their network… well, it'd at least let them talk to Jacinth, and continue her training. Of course it would take a while to set up, but the result would be worth it.

"Anni, alert the _Fang_'s crew to get their ship prepared for launch, and have the deck crew load his torpedo launcher with data-link probe sats, ones that have a decent science package as well." Ghrath ordered. "Have them follow the _Drathryn_'s path and drop satellites in the habitable zones of the systems along it, particularly those with inhabited planets."

"Aye, Commodore." The ship responded.

Leaning back in his chair, Ghrath closed his eyes and rubbed a hand over his horns. The things he had to do as a leader.

"Daddy, up." A voice came from beside his chair.

Smiling slightly, Ghrath opened his eyes to look down at his youngest son. Bending down, he picked the boy up and settled him on his lap. "And what, pray tell, are you doing here?" He asked, tickling the hatchling gently.

* * *

Several days later, the _Fang_ arrived in the Rhyl'seer system, stars flickering down from lines to brightly coloured spots in the sea of black space. "Well now, that's interesting." Murmured the ship as he scanned the area they had dropped into with his sensors. From what he could pick up, which was, granted several minutes old at the very least, since he had dropped into normal space half an hour — at light speed — beyond the orbit of the outermost gas giant, there were signals coming from somewhere in the general direction of the fourth planet in the system.

"What isss?" Hissed the xeno manning the helm, her tail flicking slowly as she checked the astrogation data and set a course for the habitable zone in the system.

"According to the Drathryn's report, this system, while inhabited, isn't supposed to be capable of producing signals that can reach into space." Fang replied, as he responded to the instructions his helmswoman had given him, engines flaring. "However, I am detecting two distinct signals, one from the planet, and the other from somewhere in space."

Giving the impression of a frown, despite not having a proper face, J'retharesssiss flicked her tail. "Go to ssstealth mode and try to get a track on thossse sssignalsss, Fang." She said, before reaching for the intercom. "Bridge to Lieutenant Ymal."

"Ymal here, Bridge." The yellow and black Franthoryn responded from her quarters aboard the corvette. "Report."

"We jussst arrived in the Rhyl'ssseer sssyssstem, ma'am." J'retharesssiss said, flicking her tail. "And Fang reportsss that there are sssignalsss coming from the planet which do not match the lassst ssscout reportsss, ma'am." She reported, scanning the readouts in front of her.

Ymal nodded slightly, flicking her tail slowly. "I'll be on the bridge in a few minutes." She said. "Engage stealth systems and order yellow alert." She ordered before heading into her cabin to clamber into her armour. In all honesty, having one of the new, living, suits would be nice, since those didn't need to be stored, or climbed into. Of course, even aboard the Annihilator, it was very much a case of the ones that were higher up had the better chance of getting the suits, since it cost to develop them and their bank roll wasn't the best at the moment.

Arriving on the corvette's bridge several minutes later, Ymal nodded to the others that had taken up place on the bridge, working on the various panels. "What's the situation?" She asked.

"I can't pinpoint the source on the planet," Ensign Morane, one of the humans among the crew, said. "But the space bound source appears to be a distress beacon from a fighter. It seems to be one of ours." He said, looking up at the lieutenant.

She frowned, flicking her tail. Her cousin-in-law had sent her sealed orders which had reached them while they were travelling faster than light. Those orders had said specifically that any sign of their missing pilot recruit in the system was to be reported, but they were not, under any circumstances, to try extracting the girl. "Can you confirm that the pod is from the fighter assigned to Recruit Jacinth?" She asked.

"I can, Lieutenant." Fang said. "Judging from the direction of the signal, it looks like it was launched while the fighter was on an approach angle approximately sixty degrees to starboard of our own entry point into this system and angled towards the fourth planet."

"How good are your… no, how easy would it be to spot you based purely on normal vision, or vision aided solely but magnifiers?" Ymal asked her ship. The Commodore, for reasons of his own, had ordered against extraction, but that didn't mean that they couldn't observe the situation, and possibly get word to Jacinth that they knew about things, and while they couldn't actively help, they could lend support. She wondered briefly whether Ghrath had thought of that, then snorted to herself. Of course he or one of the other Commodores had, that was why her crew was here, in spite of the fact that she was currently playing exec to her sister-in-law, who was still on the sands with the latest of her children.

The ship was silent for several moments as he contemplated that. "It may depend on what race is dominant on the fourth planet, if that is where you intend on going, Lieutenant, but in orbit of it, as long as we stay on the night side, even if they do have personal magnification devices, or the primitive versions of the sensors and scanners I use, we should be alright hiding in plain sight given my black hull."

Ymal grinned. "J'retharesssiss, take us into orbit of the fourth planet so we can get better data on it. Morane, get onto command and tell them we have picked up a beacon and are investigating the planet to see if we can pin down its origin." She ordered, flicking her tail as she turned to each in turn, before turning to her science officer. Lireen, when we get into orbit, drop the satellite for this system into the planet's orbit, then fire up your sensors and see if you can get me demographs, structure analysis, and anything else your sensors and remotes can." She said. "We only have a limited time here, and we can't realistically get the pilot back with just us, but any information we can get here, or get to her, will help us out later when a rescue team follows us." She said.

"Aye ma'am." All three responded, turning to their tasks.

Moving to a spot between the helm and sensor operator's stations, Ymal flicked her tail slowly as she watched the planet grow from a spot in the distance to its true size as the small corvette approached it before taking up orbit near the northern pole of the planet.

"Orbit achieved, ma'am." J'retharesssiss said, flicking her tail slowly. Her fingers danced over the controls as she settled the corvette into its orbit.

His tail brushing against the floor, Lireen tapped in instructions to the satellite designated for the system they were in before 'rolling' it out of the launch shoot. The satellite's thrusters flared briefly as it moved away from the ship to settle into its own orbit, from where it started transmitting the data it was receiving back to the Knight ship. "Satellite away, commencing scans." Lireen said, flicking his tail. "Data coming in now ma'am." He said, turning to Ymal.

Ymal nodded, shifting her wings slightly. Even though there was no immediate threat, she was still in her spacesuit, not having left the bridge to remove and store it yet. "Put it on screen, Ensign." She said, shifting her attention slightly as the data started appearing on the screen to the side of the viewport.

"Ma'am, I've managed to pinpoint the source of the planet-based signal." Morane said, looking up from his console. "On the main landmass at coordinates forty-five degrees north, twenty degrees west." He said. "Looks like there's a town surrounding it judging by what's displaying on my screen."

Flicking her tail slowly, Ymal made her way around to Morane's console and leaned over his shoulder to look at what he was picking up. "Alright, granting that it's been several days since we lost contact with the fighter, but that doesn't look like the original landing site." She said, frowning slightly. The area seemed too clean for what was probably a rather rough landing. "Especially since I doubt anyone would willingly land too near civilisation."

Morane frowned. "If that's the case Lieutenant, then someone must have either removed the fighter's communications systems, or found and moved the fighter from where it originally put down."

Ymal frowned. "The Commodore's message said something about the reason we can't interfere, beside the fact that there're few of us here, was that Avatar J'karryn had said Jacinth was in a position that made her visible in a kingdom. One with enough reach to get certain things from its leader. Maybe the moving of the fighter is part of that." She said, shrugging her wings. Though that said, even if that was the case… leaving something like a fighter in the middle of a lower tech city was going to cause problems. Of course better near to its owner than in the middle of nowhere.

She looked down at Morane. "Call Anni, request the Commodore send some infiltration teams." Ymal ordered. "Tell him that it looks like we need humans or shifters that have human form, along with gryphons, lizard folk and equines that can be disguised as horses." She added after studying the demograph of the population that their sensors could detect. "We'll stay and record whatever we can until we get a response as to what's happening with the infiltration team, then continue on with our mission." She said.

Morane nodded, his fingers darting over the controls as he worked to implement her orders. "Aye ma'am." He said, shifting slightly. "Data burst ready… and sent." He informed her as he tapped in the final codes.

Ymal nodded. "Good work, Ensign." She said. "Now, let's see what we can find out for the infiltrators to make their times easier, even if we can't make our pilot's any easier than it is."

Morane nodded again, turning his attention back to his board as the sensors kept working over the areas of the planet that they could reach.

* * *

"They found her then." The emerald green half dragon commented, her tail flicking as she moved to look over the shoulder of the watch commander, a red half-dragon.

V'rentrith nodded. "Sort of." She said, shifting her daughter slightly on her lap. "They've found the planet J'karryn said she had come down on, Ryn." She said. "And the child's fighter, but they hadn't found her at the time this request was sent." She shrugged her wings, reading over it. "Still, Ymal seems confident that the fighter has been moved, likely to be nearer its pilot. She also seems to agree with Ghrath that we should use infiltrators."

Ryn snorted in amusement. "There are days when I wonder if your life-mate actually knows what tact and subtlety actually are, then he goes and pulls something like this." She said, wiggling her fingers at the little one. "Now if we could only convince him to use something like this when he's talking to people, I wouldn't have to constantly fight fires with them over his 'runaway tank' social skills."

V'ren snorted softly. "Ryn, you're forgetting something." She informed the green, who was actually one of the oldest in the squad they both belonged to, the local diplomat and one of the ones, along with herself and Ghrath that had found the ship in their home system. "Ghrath has _never_ liked talking to people, _especially_ in the sort of situations involved in diplomacy and politics. Give him a battle or a group to lead and he's fine, make him talk in an arena where there are hidden daggers and he can't deal with it."

The green grimaced. If she was honest, she wasn't too keen on diplomacy either, but the amount of respect she got and how much people looked to her to say whether they would be fighting or not was fairly exhilarating. That was one reason she had continued using her training to aid the Knights after leaving her home world with the others. The other was that Ghrath and the rest needed her and Tren. "_I_ don't like those hidden daggers any more than you, or Ghrath do, V'ren." She said. "The question though, is what we are going to do about what Ymal has found out?"

"J'karryn's bargains have stopped us interfering directly, Ryn." V'ren said, flicking her tail slowly as she shifted her daughter again. "But I agree with both Ghrath and Ymal. At this point, the best way to do things is send in infiltrators, preferably ones that can not only blend in but know how to guide people subtly towards not only accepting our lost pilot, but the rest of us when we are allowed to go there." She said, frowning slightly. "That means sending in people we can afford to have on a long term mission though, which isn't any of us here."

Ryn grimaced. "Your sister-in-law shouldn't have done any more bargaining than your life-mate." She said.

V'ren smiled slightly. "She's actually somewhat more proficient than he is." She said, flicking her tail slowly. "She was raised in court, so she knows the ins and outs of politics at least, even if she doesn't care for them."

"Maybe, but she still isn't a diplomat." Ryn said.

"I know, but considering that _she's_ our main link to things involving the Powers that we don't have to fight, she's sort of stuck with it." V'ren said. "And we're stuck with this, which is in the stealth, diplomacy and intelligence section." She pointed out, flicking her tail slowly. "Meaning you, Tren, Hawke and Fai are the ones that are going to be best suited to deciding who to send in."

Ryn sighed. "Let's just hope it doesn't end up like D'rssstharasssiss Two." She said. That particular planet had seemed like a viable ally, and recon teams had been dropped in. Unfortunately, things had gone belly up very fast when it turned out that not only were the people demon worshipers, but they were also cannibals and performed bizarre rituals that sickened most everyone that had seen them out of the recon teams.

V'ren nodded. "Agreed, Ryn." She said. "Most definitely agreed."

* * *

"You aren't going Ryn." Ghrath said tiredly. She had given him an initial group for the job of infiltrating the population of Rhyl'seer Four this morning, and they had been arguing about it since, because she wanted to go and they couldn't afford to let their prime diplomat off on a lark into unknown territory.

Her tail snapped back and forth. "Why the hell not, Ghrath?" She asked harshly. "I'm the best damn diplomat you've got."

He rolled his eyes. "Well there's one reason right there." Ghrath pointed out. "You _are_ our best diplomat." He said, flicking his own tail. "And how the hell do you intend to hide the Flights?" He asked, referring to the seasonal mating flights that all the dragon species of their home world underwent. "Or the fact that you don't age?" A dragon could — assuming 'shit' didn't happen — live for thousands of years because the decay that was inherent in growing older happened much more slowly for them.

Ryn growled. Unfortunately Ghrath was right about the Flights, which happened about every three months — three months on Harrenthias, which may or may not be equal length to the months on Rhyl'seer Four. The aging was also a problem, but that could at least be taken care of with make-up. Ryn herself was somewhere in the region of ninety to a hundred years old, yet her human form still looked like a person in their early twenties. "So I don't stay in the same area." She snapped. "I can move around, work on different nations if they don't have a single government, or on different groups of people if they do." She said. "And I've got the Mind Magic to make things stick, I was even trained in using it subtly, and I have strong shields against anyone that might have Mind Magic of their own."

"Which puts you in an obvious position, and as soon as someone finds out you've got shields, they're likely to want to know where you got them, who trained you and everything else." Ghrath pointed out. "And having a stranger, even one that _looks_ human come up to you if you're a ruler of a country, and them saying that 'hey, non-humans are people too,' even subtly and over weeks or months, is likely to be suspect when you don't know this person, especially when they don't seem to have any relation to anywhere that might have non-humans around." He said, flicking his tail slowly. "Besides which, it's not the rulers that are the ones that need to change, since even if they are dictators, they still have to deal with the people they rule. _Those_ are the ones that need to be shown what non-humans are real people." Ghrath said, flicking his tail slowly.

"We still need someone senior on the ground." Ryn insisted. "And I can not only reach a ship in orbit, but I'm trained for human hand-to-hand combat."

Ghrath shook his head. "There won't be a ship in orbit." He said. "Strikes don't have the endurance, and anything larger will attract attention. Also, we don't have enough of them or the crews to spare for that close a support group." The closest 'base' they could provide was actually the one that Tempest had taken, and even that was only close relatively speaking, plus it would need at least a full month to retrofit for their own use. "Tempest's capture is the closest support, and not only is it hours away, but it needs retrofitting for our use."

Ryn grumbled something uncomplimentary. "Ghrath, I'm booored." She whined. "Besides, we don't know what how things are set up there, and surely the girl wouldn't be stupid enough to make herself too obvious."

"Humans are dominant." Ghrath said, flicking his tail. "And J'karryn dropped by for a visit about Jacinth, our missing pilot." He added. "She's managed to get herself caught up by a local power group already. _After_ running off a demon."

"You see?" Ryn asked. "You need me there."

Ghrath shook his head. "I need you here, especially since we're pulling out of here in a ten-day to have a look at those planets in Sector Nine, and at least three of them have space capable civilisations."

"I want to go there." Ryn insisted.

"No Ryn." Ghrath replied. "I can't afford to lose the best damn diplomat we've got to what's likely to be a long term covert op when we've a more pressing need for her." He said. "Besides which, _any_ Aspect bound Knight will glow to any sort of magical sense, we're the oldest, hence we've the brightest glow." He said. "You know that, and know what the bonds have done to our mental shields. Any one that tries an innocent scan is likely to get bounced hard, especially from your shields." He said, flicking his tail. "No," he shook his head. "This one is on the younger ones, who we have to trust to learn and make their own mistakes."

Sure. Use logic on her to break her arguments. Ryn sighed, her tail flicking. She hated logic. Loathed it with a passion, unfortunately Ghrath, and V'ren both, routinely used it. Usually to make her do or not do things that she didn't or did want to do. "Fine." She grumbled. "I'll be in the holodeck." With that, she turned and left the office. She needed to burn some things.

Ghrath rolled his eyes after her. Typical Ryn. She was older than he was, yet over some things, she acted like a hatchling, despite having several of her own already.


	7. Haven and Heralds

Disclaimer

I don't own Velgarth et al, nor do I own the xenos/aliens, however the characters and Knights are mine.

Reviewers

Balecka92 – I sent you a PM with responses, since you put three reviews up and I didn't want to write an essay in response, but thanks for reviewing, hope that the PM, if it went through, answers your questions.

SparkyCSI – I've noticed real life doing that myself. Working at a college at exam time is a pain in the back, literally, because despite my job title, I have to set up the exam tables. Thanks for the review, and things aren't going to be completely quiet on the Knights' side, though they'll have their own distractions.

Warbender – Thank you. Here you go, I hope you still like it.

Oneswordsworn – Jacinth is doing how she is doing, which you'll find out here. As for interactions… no obvious ones, yet. Unobvious however….

GinaStar – Thank you very much.

* * *

So that was Jacinth's fighter? Civa hadn't known what she was expecting, but the rather beaten up wreck on the field in front of her in the pre-dawn twilight wasn't it. She flicked her tail as she looked at the thing which could — supposedly — destroy Haven if things went wrong with it. It didn't even look as if it could fly to be perfectly honest. Yes it had wings, but they didn't move, nor did it look like the thing could really move.

Walking forward slowly, she cocked her head as Jacinth opened up something in the side and remove something. _:What are you doing?:_ She asked, flicking her tail.

Taking her toolkit from her fighter, Jacinth closed and locked the cargo hatch before moving over to one of the wings and opening another panel. "_I'm seeing if I can disconnect the weapons._" She said, in her own language.

_:Why?:_ Civa asked. _:It doesn't look like that thing could go anywhere anyway.:_

Jacinth snorted. "_You've seen what a __**pistol**__ can do, Civa._" She said, working slowly to disconnect the control and power lines to the weapons. "_A pistol can boil a human's blood, the guns on a fighter can do much more because they're a lot more powerful._" She snorted softly, flicking her tail slowly. A pistol could kill a human easily, and the laser's bore was probably about half a centimetre to a centimetre across. The fighter's laser cannons had a bore of at least seven and a half centimetres, and a much more powerful generator powering them.

Managing to unhook the lines feeding and controlling the weapon she was working on, Jacinth turned to Civa, able to Feel the confusion from the Companion through their bond. "_Look, you know how a crossbow and a ballista or a sling and catapult work essentially the same way right?_" She asked, flicking her tail.

Civa nodded. Those she understood, since while they were on much different scales, both examples did damage by throwing something — a bolt or a rock — at the enemy. The big siege engines did more damage because they threw larger things at faster speeds.

"_The same principle applies with the lasers on my fighter versus the laser pistols Ronlyn and I have._" Jacinth said, flicking her tail. "_The fighter laser has a bigger power supply and larger bore, but it does the same job as the laser pistol and works the same way._" She explained with a shrug of her wings.

Civa eyed the protruding barrel of the fighter's laser cannon. _:That… thing is a lot smaller than a catapult.:_ She said, her ears going flat.

Jacinth shrugged. "_You get to a certain point and you start finding ways to make things do the same work, but take up less space, and when you only have a limited volume to put things in, you need to find ways to do that._" She said. "_And going back to the comparison between them, think about this._" Jacinth added, flicking her tail when she saw Civa's disbelieving look. "_My pistol has a bore of half a centimetre, that means it's throwing out bolts that are about that — or a fifth of an inch if you prefer — in diameter. My fighter's cannons have a bore of about three inches, which means that the bolt it fires is fifteen times the width of the one the pistol fires._"

That… sounded nasty. In fact, if Civa was working things out right, it would be like comparing a one pound rock to a hundred pound one, at the very least. She was saved from responding, however, by the Collegium bells sounding out breakfast.

Jacinth grimaced at the sound of the bells, moving to put the tools away and lock things that she had opened. "_Fighter, initiate lock down of all systems, authorisation code Jacinth-Alpha-Seven-Five-Niner-Eight._" She ordered it. The last thing anyone needed was some untrained fool getting into the systems.

"_Lock down initiated, Recruit._" The fighter responded. "_Try not to stay away too long this time, the locals seem to be rather too curious about me._"

Jacinth snorted. "_Big surprise._" She said, flicking her tail as she collected the few things she was taking with her.

Civa stared at the fighter in shock. It was one thing to talk about the thing being advanced, able to fly and everything else, but it could _talk_?! _:It…__**talks**__?!:_ She managed.

"_High tech computer._" Jacinth said with a shrug. "_I'll explain it later._" She added before hurrying off towards the Collegium.

* * *

Wearing her uniform, Jacinth made her way to the salle with the rest of her class. This was going to be the first time she had received any training in the local fighting styles, since even though she had fought side-by-side with Daria on the journey to Haven, it had been real combat, not practice. The problem was, her body didn't make it easy to learn human fighting styles, and given the past encounters, the humans here didn't take her abilities into account.

She flicked her tail slowly, waiting in line with the rest of the new Trainees. The main question was whether the Herald that was going to take this class was the type that despised her or the type that was willing to give her a chance. The students — and teachers — here seemed to be divided between those that despised her for not being human, and those that felt that despite that, she should be given a chance, especially given the fact that she had saved others.

"You hear about that hunk of junk the lizard had brought in?" One of the other Trainees asked in what was probably supposed to be a whisper. "What a load of horse dung."

Jacinth snorted softly. Her fighter was scrap metal because of what happened to it, not that that idiot, which given the words, sounded like one of ones that hated her, would admit that possibility. She held her peace, lashing out only made these people worse, _especially_ when she blinded them with science that was so far beyond their own capabilities in some areas that it wasn't funny. Flicking her tail, she checked the equipment belt she wore, unholstering and checking her laser pistol briefly. A gun, any type of gun, tended to need maintenance, and this one had been abused. Still, despite that, the mirrors were still aligned, and the energy cell still worked. Making sure the safety was still on, she reholstered the weapon and looked up as the weapons master entered the salle.

"So," Herald Lan said gruffly as he looked over the line of grey, red and even green clad students in the salle. "You are the latest students to enter the Collegiums." He said, walking down the line, his hands behind his back. "Some of you may think you can't fight, some of you probably think that you're the best thing to wield a sword." He said, stopping in front of them, the grey leather of his uniform flexing with his breathing. "Let me tell you this. Whichever group you fall into, you are both wrong. Every one of you will learn how to fight, with a weapon that suits your abilities and style, and no matter how good you _think_ you are, there is _always_ someone better somewhere. You just haven't met them yet."

Given the tales, frankly Jacinth didn't _want_ to meet some of those that were better than her, or more appropriately, better than her parents. Despite the fact that they were the leaders of her group, she knew the tales, and even taking exaggerations into account, the Commodore and his squad were just plain nasty in fights.

Lan looked around the group before pointing at one of the students. "You, Trainee, what's your name and what training have you had?" He asked.

"Sir." The girl responded. "Bardic Trainee Gemma, sir." She said, shifting slightly, the rust colour of her tunic standing out against the grey of the Herald Trainees. "I've had no training at all, sir." She said.

Lan frowned slightly. "Hmm. Learning from the very first for you then, Trainee Gemma." He said, rubbing his chin. "What about you, trainee?" He asked, pointing at another of them.

"I'm Heraldic Trainee Geoffrey, sir." The boy, who had been the one to comment about Jacinth's fighter earlier, said. "I had two years of training with a rapier under my father's weapons master before being Chosen."

He nodded. "Then rapier is the best thing to continue with, at least initially." Lan said. "However, we shall see how much you need to unlearn." Turning, he made a face as his gaze landed on Jacinth. "What about you, Trainee?" He asked.

"Jacinth and I've had five years of wrestling, sword, staff and pistol, sir." Jacinth replied.

Lan snorted. He would believe that when he saw it. Besides, the girl was obviously a Change-Child, there was no such thing as 'aliens' despite what others tried to insist. "Then prove it, Change-Child." He said, moving to pick up a sword. His hand hovered for a moment over the practice blades, before eventually settling on the hilt of a live long sword. Drawing it, he moved to one side of the arena.

Flicking her tail, Jacinth moved forward slowly. "I am _not_ one of your 'Change-Children'." She said flatly. Back-water provincials; couldn't tell their heads from their arses. She snorted softly, moving to get a practice blade. When Lan's blade swept round to intercept her, she leapt back out of range. That wasn't going to be good. If she had to fight through to a weapon, then she was going to have problems getting a physical weapon, and she didn't know how to summon the wraith weapons that were a hallmark of the Knights.

Well, the Change-Child could dodge at least. However, dodging wasn't fighting, and that was what she was supposed to be proving. He moved forward easily. The Change-Child was only a child after all, while she could dodge, she couldn't have had the amount of training she claimed. Swinging the sword at her again, Lan watched how she dodged, twisting aside from the sword more easily than a normal human the same age would have done. The Changes worked upon her likely included better reflexes than those a normal human had.

Backing up, Jacinth snarled. This wasn't any kind of test that she knew of. It certainly was not something to pull on a new student, even if they did claim experience. Lashing her tail, she dodged away from the sword again, rolling under it before leaping for the practice blades. Managing to claim one, she spun on one knee, grunting as the blade Lan held crashed into it.

Pushing the blade aside, she swept her own around in a circle towards the Herald's opposite side, only to have the attack blocked by his own sword. Using the distraction, she slashed her tail in at his knee and smiled slightly when she felt it hit and saw him stumble.

Stumbling to one knee, Lan snarled to himself. He should have remembered that the girl had a damn tail! Still, it couldn't stand against steel, and in a real fight, she was likely to have it cut off if people figured out that she could actually use it. Pushing himself to his feet, he lunged on her, smiling grimly as she barely got her sword up in time to turn his attack.

Grunting as the sword scraped against her practice blade, Jacinth ducked under the fist she hadn't seen coming and leapt back out of range. So far she had done without using her full strength, but if this kept up, sooner or later she was going to have to actually use her fists and feet, as well as her wings and tail. And that could be deadly.

Blocking several blows from her sword, Lan grunted. Maybe the girl had been right about her training and it wasn't just fairy tales. Then again, he still had over three decades of experience, he could take her. Grunting at a stinging blow, he began attacking in earnest, forcing her out of position, managing to draw blood with several blows before she leapt away again. It wasn't going to save her; he would kill this Change-Child. He barely heard the other students in the salle, both those that cheered and those that were disgusted by his actions. Even his own Companion's voice became so much background noise as his world narrowed down to himself, the Change-Child, and the area between them.

She was aware of the cries of those around her, and the fact that many seemed to be taking exception to the Herald's assault on her, but Jacinth was more concerned with other problems just then. Pulling her hand from the gash on her chest and looking down at it, Jacinth growled at the sight of blood on her hand. Her own blood, even against the black of her scales it showed a bright red in her hand, brighter than human blood. Looking up at Lan, she growled, and summoned her armour. If he wanted to play that game, then she would take him out of the equation.

The blindingly white light that surrounded Jacinth was followed by an even more intense darkness as the armour she had claimed surrounded her. Shielding his eyes from the glare, Adrian grimaced, sharing a look with his twin sister. The first, and until this point, last, time they had seen that armour was in the fight for their lives. He swallowed as he turned to look back at Jacinth. Adrian hadn't liked how Herald Lan had hounded her, but this was going to be trouble… big trouble, since if that armour was out, then it was quite possible Lan would die. Slipping out of the line with his sister, he made his way out of the salle. They had to find someone to stop this, before a life was lost. And Herald Daria, or Ronlyn, or Civa were likely the best ones to do it.

Jacinth growled as the armour settled onto her body, steam venting from the grills that filtered air through for her to breath. If the Herald wanted to 'play' then she was quite willing to play by her own rules rather than his. The practice blade clattered to the floor as she dropped it and took two strides forward before vaulting into the air.

No one had mentioned that the Change-Child was a mage as well! Certainly that armour was _not_ natural. Leaping forwards, Lan managed to roll out of the way as landed almost directly behind the place he had stood. Turning, he slashed at the armoured figure and grunted as the sword rang off a strange, nebulous glow that flowed up from her hand.

Backing away, Lan struck out again, grunting as the glow blocked his strike again. He ducked as the armoured Change-Child swung the glow at his head, and blinked as he heard, not the swish of cut air as he had been expecting, but a deep hungry growl that echoed in his bones. Maybe he shouldn't have pushed the girl so far—. The thought was cut off abruptly as the growling glow came at him again.

Spinning the wraith around, Jacinth lashed out at Lan again, chopping down at him in an attack that he only barely avoided. Even so, the blade carved a deep, narrow, gash in the floor of the salle. She grunted as he took a swing at her, and broke his sword on her armour. Spinning on one foot, she kicked out, knocking him into a wall.

Rebounding off the wall, Lan landed with a pained grunt. That had really hurt. Holding his ribs, with one hand, he looked up at the girl. He really shouldn't have pushed her this far. Not with the powers she seemed to have. Now he was on the back foot, despite his years of experience. Dodging away from her again, he managed to land close to one of the weapons racks. Taking a sword from it, he got to his feet and attacked, managing to get in several solid blows past her guard, not that they seemed to faze her through the armour.

He gasped as the glowing thing passed through him, chilling the very marrow of his bones. It felt like something was drawing not only his life, but his spirit out of him, testing and tasting him. Then the feeling was gone and Lan dropped to the floor gasping as a pair of Companions thundered into the salle.

Knocking Jacinth aside with her shoulder, Civa grunted as Lan's Companion slammed into her as he tried to attack her Chosen. Stumbling to the side, Civa turned to face the other Companion. _:Back down, Kalor, this fight is over.:_ She said, her ears pinning flat against her head as Daria and Ronlyn ran in.

Kalor snorted, his own ears flat as he faced Civa. _:It is __**not**__, foal.:_ He said, facing off against Civa, between her and Lan. _:Your… Change-Beast tried to kill my Chosen.:_

_:Lan tried to kill her first.:_ Civa ground out. _:And she is no Change-Beast, she is a Rhyl'saar, and not of this world, Kalor.:_ She said, looking back as Ronlyn talked to Jacinth, trying to calm her.

_:There are no such thing.:_ Kalor snarled mentally. _:She is of this world, and a beast that has corrupted you.:_

Civa went to respond, only to cut herself off as the Grove-born stepped between the pair of them.

_:That will be enough out of you, foals.:_ Kyrith said with dignity, standing between them. _:There has been enough conflict today, and I will not stand for more, especially not between you two.:_

Kalor snorted. _:Grove-born, that… beast tried to kill my Chosen.:_ He said, his ears flat.

_:She is __**not**__ a beast.:_ Civa insisted. _:And she only fought because __**he**__ tried to kill __**her**__.:_

Kyrith stomped his hoof and snorted at both of them. _:__**Enough**__.:_ He snapped. _:__**Foals!**__ The pair of you.:_ He snorted. _:What is done, is done, and no lives were lost, no thanks to __**either**__ of your Chosen.:_ Though if he found out just what had decided to bring Jacinth here, he was going to have **words** with it._ :However:_ He said, turning to glare down Kalor. _:Civa speaks the truth about her Chosen's origin. The Star-Eyed Herself confirmed that much to me. Jacinth was born amongst a group that roams the stars. Her weapons, armour and effects are proof of that if one would look at them.:_

Kalor went to snort, but stopped at the flat look that Kyrith gave him.

_:Now, leave, and let Daria tend to your Chosen.:_ Kyrith said.

Nodding stiffly, Kalor turned and left.

_:Civa.:_ Kyrith said, turning towards the younger Companion.

Looking up from where she had been standing with Jacinth, Civa flicked her ears. _:Yes, Grove-born?:_ She asked meekly.

_:While I appreciate that you were protecting your Chosen, and that you are adjusting to her more readily than most, I would rather that there was no repeat of this.:_ Kyrith said, flicking his tail. _:Humans fight enough, we do not need fights amongst ourselves, or the Heralds.:_ He said. _:Remember that, and remember that many, especially older ones, have preconceived notions of what __**should**__ be. While I will confirm to the Companions that what you, and Jacinth, say is true, there will still be those that oppose you out of principle.:_ He explained, watching the younger mare. _:For over sixteen hundred years, Heralds have been humans. For the same amount of time, good humans that love and care for Valdemar as a country, and have performed 'beyond the call of duty' have been given the choice to become Companions. Until now that has been the way of things. Even though we have other, equally worthy, non-humans, they have not become Heralds. Now something greater takes a hand and things have changed. Do not expect people to change themselves readily, especially given the fact that it has not been that long since the reoccurrence of the Mage Storms and they caused things to appear that could be taken for your Chosen.:_

Civa nodded slightly. _:Grove-born, while I can appreciate that, far too many people attack Jacinth without thought for what __**she**__ feels.:_ She said, her ears going flat. _:And even amongst the herd, because of my Choice, I find myself pushed to the fringes.:_ She said, flicking her tail. _:Nath respects things, but he has been there since I caught up with Jacinth the second time. Ronlyn and Daria treat her with respect, because they have seen what she can do, and know her. All too many of the others though, the Companions give __**me**__ sideways looks because I Chose Jacinth, and exclude me from things. Humans pick on her, because she is different.:_ Civa sighed, flicking her tail slowly. _:This is likely only the first confrontation, and I think Lan was lucky because her weapon didn't like the taste of him. It killed another, and you can see the damage it did here. If she had used the blades on her arms or her claws, he would be dead now. I have seen her fight and kill people with the armour alone, and seen the death her ranged weapons can deal. If she had used either, the salle would be bloody.:_

Kyrith sighed, flicking his tail slowly. Unfortunately, he couldn't fault that. Most humans seemed to welcome Jacinth, not want to be involved with her, or outright attack her, depending on how they felt about being around a big, winged lizard and what she said. The Companions were also, unfortunately, just as opinionated. Many shunned Civa for taking a non-human Chosen; others saw her as some sort of rebel. Something, somewhere, was going to give, spectacularly, and as Civa herself had said, unfortunately this was only the first conflict. _:I wish I could say you were wrong, but I can't, Civa.:_ He admitted. _:The problem though, is that we are all living beings, and all of us see things through the tint of our own perceptions of right and wrong. We can't force changes to that, only show ourselves as being better than what people think of us. Fighting physically is not always, or even often, the best way to alter how people see us for the better. Only for the worse.:_

_:I know that.:_ Civa said with a sigh. _:But trying to convince people of anything when they're not even willing to talk to you is even harder.:_

Kyrith nodded slightly. _:True enough, but for now, Civa, let the boy deal with your Chosen and come away. You can do no more here, and I would rather that you had no more cause to fight for her.:_

Nodding sadly, Civa nosed Jacinth gently before following Kyrith from the salle. Unfortunately, the Grove-born was right. There wasn't really anything she could do here.

* * *

The darkness of night covered the ship's approach to the planet. It also covered it as it landed and launched again from a point several miles outside of Haven, after several shadows left the ship.

Once the stealthed ship had left, the infiltrators spread out, moving to their targets. Their job wasn't to make themselves conspicuous, but to find out about the people of the planet, to watch and learn, and maybe assist or nudge people quietly towards being a bit more accepting those that were different.

One group of them, a young family, with what — on first glance — appeared to be a pair of hounds, and a half-grown lizard person, carrying a child made their way towards Haven and the palace. There was no need to talk, each of the five knew what they were doing. By morning, there would be a new family settled in guest quarters, one that everyone _knew_ had been out in the borderlands somewhere for the past few years, and had only just returned.

Of course, that was complete fallacy, since they were not even from this planet, they were Knights, chosen to be close to Jacinth, and lend her some support while appearing to be nothing out of the ordinary. Perhaps minor nobles that had picked up a servant from one of the outland tribes before returning to their native land.

* * *

"You know, Lan, you're damned lucky to be alive." Daria said, sitting next to the bed in the Healers Temple. "She could easily have killed you."

Lan snorted. "That damn Change-Child is the lucky one." He said. "If it weren't for that damn outland magic of hers, I would've killed her as well." He had actually been trying as well. There was no place for Change-Children in the Heralds.

Daria snorted. "Tell that to the demon she ran off when I first met her, or the bandits she killed _defending_ two newly Chosen." She said. "And besides, I've got Jacinth's language; there are things in there that we don't even have words for." She said.

He snorted again. "I still would've had her if it wasn't for that damn magic armour and sword."

"The fact that she used the sword saved your life." Daria said. "If she had come at you just using the blades on her armour, which by the way I've seen the… well, larval form of, you would have more than broken ribs and a nasty chill." She pointed out. "In fact, given the state of the salle, you should be glad that the sword _is_ magic, since if it wasn't, it would've sliced you in two."

"It was still damn cold." Lan retorted, before making a face. "And… it felt like something was draining, and tasting me."

She nodded slightly. "Given what Jacinth has said about the group she comes from, that sword is probably something _else_ to deal with demons and the like." Daria said. "So be glad it didn't like the taste of you, or decided that you weren't the thing it should be eating." She said, shifting slightly.

"Huh?" That was confusing. "Could I have that again, in Valdemaran this time?" Lan asked, shifting slightly.

Daria shifted in her seat. "When I first encountered Jacinth, she had been beaten bloody by a mage and his thugs." She said softly. "Civa told me where she was… and even though she hadn't been there, Civa shared Jacinth's wounds. The two of them seem… closer than a normal Herald and Companion, especially if Civa, who was miles from the farm, had the same wounds as Jacinth, who was actually there, and fought to protect a child." She saw his eyes widen at that and nodded. "Heralds and Companions often share thoughts and feelings, I know that, but the sharing of wounds is new." She said.

Lan watched her. "How do you know that that is true?" He asked.

"For one thing, Nath talked to her, and got the tale from her." Daria said. "And for another, while we were travelling here, I saw Civa get hurt. In the battle outside Haven, Civa was injured, Jacinth had her armour on, but when she removed it, she was marked by injuries very similar to Civa's." She said. "I've also seen what Jacinth's weapons can do. She has what she calls a 'pistol'…" She frowned, trying to decide what the best local example might be. "Think of a crossbow, small enough to wield with one hand, and no external bars or strings for the bolt." She said, shifting carefully. "It can kill a person at a range of up to fifty paces, maybe more, because that's how far away from the battle where I was wounded that Ronlyn was standing when he killed people with it." She still didn't like that, since while Jacinth was used to death and killing, Ronlyn wasn't, that said, he had handled things pretty well, all things considered.

He snorted. "That thing is a toy, it doesn't have a bolt or arrow, it couldn't possibly do what you say." Lan retorted.

Daria rolled her eyes. "Lan, you haven't held one, and you're not a mage, I am." She said leaning forward slightly. "The reason I brought the boy was because he found a set, both armour and weapon, in his family field. The armour reacted to him alone and the pistol contains some kind of energy." She said, shifting slightly. "Given what I saw of the ones killed by it, I would say that it uses that energy to do the damage, not something physical like a bolt or an arrow."

"It's not possible." Lan said stubbornly, making Daria sigh.

"Just because it's not possible for _us_ doesn't mean that _another_ can't have done it." Daria said. "Or are you so damned hidebound that you can't admit to the existence of my own magic?" She asked. After all, if they could use Mage Gift to tap into the power of the world around them, why couldn't other groups create things that did similar.

Lan shook his head. "That's not the same."

She arched an eyebrow at him. "Isn't it?" Daria asked. "Aren't the artefacts from the Tower of the Mage of Silence just a way to put energy into an object for a purpose?" She asked.

"Well… yes, but…"

Daria snorted. "But nothing." She said. "The means might be different, but the result is the same." She pointed out. "It's like… us using rods to catch fish while the people up by Lake Evandim use nets. Both ways get you the fish."

Lan sighed, Daria wasn't going to let this go. She seemed to have made a pet project out of the Change Child. Or whatever it was. Her persistence was wearing at his resolve to see the female as something bad.

* * *

"Why do people hate me?" Jacinth asked the air. "What did I ever do to them?" She was sat in a tree, overlooking the Companion's Field, one leg hanging off the branch, the other drawn up to her chest.

"Because you're not from this world, yet are Chosen as a Herald." Ronlyn said from below her. "You are a non-human that dares to see yourself as equal to humans, and you have access to technology that is more advanced than what we have, at least the _working_ examples are." He said. Having seen and used the pistols, he was quite willing to believe how deadly they were, and how unlike anything he had known of before they were.

She flicked her tail slowly. "Why do humans here think that they are superior to me?" Jacinth asked. "I'm stronger, faster and have the same level or better of intelligence."

"You're not human." Ronlyn said. "On your own world, before your people encounter the others, would they have thought humans any better than barbarians?" He asked her, looking up.

Jacinth shrugged her wings. "I don't know." She said. "I grew up around humans."

He nodded slightly. "Most people here didn't." Ronlyn said. "Hell, my father argued with me _and_ Herald Daria about the origin of the weapon and armour I found." He said. "He didn't think anything lived beyond the sky." He shrugged. "I don't think he would believe that you were from somewhere out there, much less that you were part of a race that can access things like the ones you've talked about." He said. It would likely take a lot to convince his parents about the truth of what people said, even with proof.

She flicked her tail slowly. "They disbelieve even with proof?" Jacinth asked incredulously.

Ronlyn nodded. "They don't see what you have as proof, or don't want to believe because it flies in the face of everything that they 'know' is true." He said. "For example, things higher than Gods. Most people see the very idea as ridiculous, and it flies in the face of religion. Likewise there can't be anything in the sky, because that's where the heavens are, all the holy books say so." He said.

Dropping from the branch, Jacinth looked down at him. "What about you?" She asked. "What do you believe?"

Ronlyn shrugged. "I'm a dreamer." He said. "Never really believed in anything, but what you've said rings truer to me than what's said in some dusty old tomb that the priests keep." Seeing her look, he shrugged again. "Never been much of one for faith of that type, your talk about there being other worlds out there, makes more sense than the heavens being the home of the gods."

She snorted. Well, at least _one_ person believed her. Of course, convincing people that what you said was true was a pain in the tail all things considered. Especially since she hadn't wanted what she had been given here. Moving to collapse near Ronlyn, she sighed. "Things would be easier if I didn't have to deal with all this crap." She said.

"Would they?" Ronlyn asked. "As things stand, you've got the backing of some of the ranking Heralds in the land, _and_ you are a Herald Trainee yourself, meaning you don't lack for food or shelter, and you can stay in one place and only deal with certain people." He said, shifting slightly. "A picked few." He shrugged. "Yes some of them are asses, and so are the Companions, but… at least here there are more that accept you. Remember what happened in Tinsdale when we passed though?" He asked, looking over at Jacinth, who shivered and nodded. "If you weren't here, you would probably get that wherever you went, and a number of people would likely run away screaming, or attack you on sight."

Jacinth grimaced and sighed. Unfortunately, Ronlyn was probably right. "I still feel out of place, and looked down upon by these humans." She said, flicking her tail.

He frowned slightly, shifting a little. "Well… maybe you should go talk to the non-human ambassadors that are supposed to be around somewhere." Ronlyn suggested. "It might make you feel more comfortable talking to those that are… less human." He said. There were supposed to be Ambassadors from the non-human tribes around somewhere from what he had heard. Though where they were, he wasn't sure. "I think at least part of what you're having problems with is that you're a Rhyl'saar that's used to a group of different beings, and around here, there are very few, most of whom are inclined to distrust new things. Especially after the Mage Storms a century ago." He said. "A lot of things got messed around, and it brought about those that looked like humanoid animals, amongst other monsters."

"Those 'change-creatures' that Lan mentioned?" Jacinth asked, cocking her head at him again.

Ronlyn nodded. "Aye, them." He said. "They are creatures altered by magic. Depending on what their 'base' was, alters whether they are beasts or children."

Jacinth snorted. "I am certainly _not_ one of those."

He rolled his eyes. "I know, and I believe you." Ronlyn said. "It's the others that you need to convince." Which could be hard, especially some of the more hide-bound ones. From what he had learned in the temple school, humans were the pinnacle of creation, and had created others. He wasn't so sure of that. In fact, in all honesty, it sounded like a load of codswallop, even compared to Jacinth's outland beliefs. Of course, Jacinth believed that mortals were born of something more powerful than gods, and that gods were born of mortals, which was just slightly different. "Which is another reason to talk to the non-humans, they're more used to real creatures that aren't human around, and are more likely to accept things than the majority of the humans around."

Flicking her tail slowly, Jacinth frowned. "Where would I find these non-humans?" She asked. "And what types are there?" She added after a moment's thought.

Ronlyn shrugged slightly. "They're probably in the Ambassador's Wing, or around the tree house area." He said. "As for what types…" He trailed off, shrugging. "I'm not sure. I think there's some type of lizard creature, and something big with feathers, but I haven't really seen enough to say what they are." He snorted. "Assuming I would actually recognise them."

"Then I guess I'll have to find out for myself." Jacinth said, shrugging her wings. "Thanks Ronlyn." She said, turning in the direction of the palace. Maybe she could find Daria or one of the friendlier teachers to point her in the right direction.

* * *

In the end, she had ended up taking to the wing in order to actually find the place she was looking for. They really needed maps of the palace for new comers. Folding her wings against her back, Jacinth dropped towards the tree house, spreading them again a bare two tree heights from the ground below and turning the dive into a glide that carried her around the tree house. One of the pages — who had, for some reason, been shaking like a leaf around her — had told her that the majority of the non-humans tended to gather around the tree house for whatever reason.

Circling around the tree house again, she shifted her tail and wings to glide down to the ground, frowning slightly. There wasn't any sign of anyone around, though a black, winged dragoness that was naked except for her scales — the clothes being too heavy and awkward to fly in — should have drawn some attention.

She just managed to get her wings folded against her back when something flew at her, screaming what Jacinth assumed was some type of war cry. Ducking the attack, and feeling claws slip through her mane, she snarled, her own claws flicking out.

Turning, she managed to spot the thing that had attacked her before it attacked again. Watching its flight, she lashed her tail, studying the bird. It looked big, but big obviously didn't equate to bright. Jacinth waited, still lashing her tail, until the bird dived at her again. This time, however, she was ready. When the bird got down to about a metre from her, she opened her mouth and roared at it, her wings mantling as her lips pulled away from curved fangs that were nearly an inch in length.

The bird screeched at the sight of her, back winging to an abrupt stop in mid-air. Before it could stall though, it got itself turned around in the air with a display of agility that Jacinth had to admire, and flew back towards the tree house.

Watching the bird depart, Jacinth snorted. Idiotic, feather-headed bird. Lashing her tail again, she sheathed her claws. Apparently the tree house wasn't deserted today, but the one occupant was certainly not going to be useful to talk to. Flicking her tail, she started towards the tree house, hoping that someone a bit brighter was still inside.

Shaking water out of her eyes, Moonsong looked up as her bondbird, a young kestrel, swooped in through the window screeching in fear. She grunted as she caught the bird. "Now what has gotten into you Hale?" She asked, frowning when the bird jabbered out something about a creature below. "What do mean 'giant winged Hertasi'?" Moonsong asked, getting more jabbering from the bird in return. "You're not making any _sense_. You haven't been eating the funny spiced meat again, have you?" She asked — Hale had gotten into some type of spiced meat, which had made him see things before — only to get another round of mental babble. "I swear if you have, you're sleeping outside, because I'm not cleaning up after you."

Getting Hale settled, Moonsong dried herself and got dressed in the scout gear that the Hertasi had left for her, her bird's confused babble played on her mind. Something had roared not long ago, but she had assumed it was one of the gryphons, after all, there were no 'giant winged Hertasi'. Making her way outside, she looked down from the tree house to see what was around, and stopped and stared. Maybe there was such a thing as giant winged Hertasi after all. Certainly the being below looked like one, well, except for being black and having something white running from its head down its neck. "Well… I guess Hale was right." She said.

Hearing a voice from above, Jacinth looked up. Another human's face was above her. Typical. She went looking for non-humans, only to find more humans. They bred like _hedrachin_, it seemed, though at least _some_ of them were actually worth more than those damned Harrenthian vermin. Flicking her tail, she frowned slightly. "Hello?" She called up in Valdemaran. "Do you know where the non-humans are?" She asked. "Everyone I've spoken to said that they tend to hang out around here."

Moonsong blinked. A giant, winged Hertasi that spoke pretty good Valdemaran? Where had their allies been hiding this secret? "Um…" She started. "Most of the Ambassadors are meeting with the King of your land, I think." She said.

"I'm not a local." Jacinth said, flicking her tail. "Can I come up?" She asked.

"Uhh… sure, I guess." Moonsong replied with a shrug. "Do you need a ladder?" She asked.

Jacinth snorted. "No, though you might want to move back a bit." She replied. When the human moved out of sight, she leapt into the air, using her wings to fly up to the ledge that the human had been on, she landed on it easily. "See?" She asked the human.

Moonsong nodded. "I see." She said. "I'm Moonsong k'Sheyna, by the way." She added by way of introduction. "Assistant to Starfire k'Vala, the Tayledras ambassador to Valdemar."

"Flight Cadet Jacinth of the _DKS Tempest_," Jacinth said, flicking her tail slowly. The rest was going to be long, so she would stick with that, at least until she _proved_ herself worthy of being a Herald as well.

"'Flight cadet'?" Moonsong echoed questioningly. She had never heard of one of those before. "And would it be rude of me to ask what species and lineage you are?" She asked.

Jacinth flicked her tail. "I'm a Rhyl'saar, daughter of Karinth, granddaughter of Darinth, Lady of the Rhyl'naarii Mountains on Rentaarii." She said. Rhyl'saarii tended to track their lineage in part through their name, usually only a few sounds changed from one generation to the next following the same gendered parent's line. She was also descended of the noble line, which had bred true in her, hence her black hide and white mane. "As for what a flight cadet is, it means that a person is undergoing training to fly a star fighter amongst the Hreathrae Dforgrym." She explained, then sighed at the confusion on the human woman's face. It would be nice to talk about things, and not have to explain them all the time. "It's a sort of ship that if flown by one or two people, usually between worlds, like this one and my parents' home world." She said. "The _Tempest_ is similar, but much larger, and has more endurance."

Moonsong blinked. "Umm… okay." She said. That had not been what she had been expecting, and it was a lot to take in at once.

"Moonsong, don't just stand around on the ledge, invite your guest in." A voice said from behind her.

Moonsong jumped slightly. "Uh… would you like to come in?" She asked.

Jacinth nodded. "Please." She said, flicking her tail slowly. When Moonsong turned to go inside, she followed, looking around at the tree house. It was certainly different to the style she had seen everywhere else she had been. "Who built this?" She asked. "And who was the one that spoke just?"

Leading Jacinth through to the main room, Moonsong frowned slightly. "The one who spoke was one of the Hertasi." She said, waving Jacinth to a seat before taking one herself. "Our histories say that they are a created species, like most that are not human, but intelligent." She explained. "One of the Great Mages made them before the wars in which the last were killed. Hertasi serve those they choose, or those that are around one they choose, but they can still be opinionated, even if most of the Vale dwellers are shy." She snorted, leaning back into her chair. "You'll probably find that there are almost two groups of them. There are the ones from the Tayledras Vales, who are shy and rarely show their snouts, and those from the city of White Gryphon, which are much bolder."

She shrugged as one of the Hertasi appeared with a selection of drinks, looking at Jacinth curiously for a moment before disappearing again. Seeing Jacinth's arched eye ridge, she shifted. "That would be one of the Vale dwellers, probably a descendant of one that moved here shortly after it was built for the first ambassadors from the Vales, Darkwind k'Sheyna and Firesong k'Vala."

Jacinth flicked her tail, watching the smaller lizard depart. She could barely follow it as it vanished out the door. "What other creatures are there?" She asked, turning back to her host. At least Moonsong seemed willing to accept her, and was fairly at ease, despite her presence.

Moonsong frowned slightly. "Well, there are the gryphons." She said. "They are another created species, and proud of their creator." She smiled slightly. "They're also vain as anything you're likely to meet. There are two major groups, those from White Gryphon, who were the majority as far as I know. They were followed by Hertasi, humans, that came from several groups, including a complete clan of Kaled'a'in, Kyree, and others. The other group are those from Iftel to the north east of here." She said, sipping her drink. "Gryphons were created by the last of the Great Mages. Urtho, the Mage of Silence, they're part bird, part cat, and have the vanity of both.

"The next group are the Kyree. They live in clans in several places, look like a cross between a grass cat and a wolf, and have three genders, male, female and neuter." Moonsong continued. "You're most likely to encounter the last, since they are the most inclined to roam and several of them adventure, or look for people to hear stories from." She said.

Jacinth flicked her tail. "I've never heard of either of those before." She said.

Moonsong smiled. "Nor had most people who lived around here before the Mage Storms." She said. "Except for those living with them, or those whose histories included them." She added. "Kyree speak using Mind Speech, and can be loyal comrades or vicious enemies." She told the dragoness.

Snorting, Jacinth shook her head. "I'd believe that." She said. "But then, I've heard tales of what some of the people you wouldn't expect to be violent have done." She had also taken lumps and bruises from under-estimating Kaalii more than once. Rentaarii were not — as a rule — ones for violence. But that was discounting the type that made their way into the Knights, or more specifically, the warrior side of the Knights.

Shifting slightly in her seat, Moonsong frowned. "Oh?"

Taking a drink from her glass, Jacinth nodded. "There are a group from my home world, who are a different species to me that are more or less what you'd expect from healers and pacifists." She said, flicking her tail. "But one of my squad mates is one, and she is a fighter, plain and simple." Jacinth snorted to herself. "First time or two I went up against her, I held back because, despite both of us being raised on the same ship, I thought she would be like those my parents told me of on our home world. She wasn't, and I paid in blood and bruises." She said.

Moonsong snorted. "Never annoy a Healer, because they can not only put you back together, but take you apart as well."

Jacinth rolled her eyes. "Annoying several other types isn't a good plan either." She said. "But… what other types of creature are there?" She asked.

"Well… there are the dyheli." Moonsong said.

Jacinth blinked. "The what?"

"The dyheli." Moonsong repeated. "Think… a type of straight horned deer." She said. "Ones that are both intelligent and strong mind mages." Moonsong explained, frowning slightly as she chose her words, trying not to confuse her visitor more than necessary. "They live in herds, and the leaders are capable of some fairly amazing feats with their mind magic, including controlling the rest of their herd."

Jacinth whistled softly. "They must be pretty strong in that area then." She commented.

Moonsong nodded. "Very." She agreed. "The last three species are Tervardi, Ratha and Tyrill." She continued after taking a swallow from her glass. "Tervardi are… bird men — mainly song birds — that have the protection of the Tayledras. Ratha are about the feline equivalent to Kyree, and live in Iftel, as do the Tyrill, who are lizard-folk like the Hertasi, but larger." She said.

She flicked her tail slowly. "That's a lot of intelligent creatures." Jacinth said. "And yet the humans here still have a problem with me."

Snorting, Moonsong shook her head. "The people of Valdemar have only had a century with the knowledge of them, Jacinth." She said. "I'm one of the Tayledras, and I still have a hard time figuring out how to talk to some of the non-humans without giving offence, or taking it, even though my people have got over two and a half thousand years worth of experience with them, _after_ the cataclysm that ended the Mage Wars."

Jacinth cocked her head. "Mage Wars?"

Moonsong nodded. "About two and a half thousand years ago, two Great Mages, Urtho, Mage of Silence, and Ma'ar fought a terrible war." She said. "Ma'ar had taken over the castle of the king, and with his armies of mercenaries, northern barbarians and Makaar, threatened all that lived. Urtho, the Kaled'a'in, other mercenaries and what was left of the king's forces stood against him with aid from the other intelligent races, particularly the gryphons and Kyree. Eventually the pair destroyed each other, blasting open Lake Evandim and the Dorsha Plains with their magics, but the people Urtho led were sent away to safety, becoming at least four distinct peoples over time. The Kaled'a'in lived still, in k'Leshya and White Gryphon, the Shin'a'in claimed the Dorsha Plains, vowing to the Star-Eyed to guard the remains of their master's tower, while the Tayledras, who also called on the Star-Eyed were tasked with purging the magic and removing the beasts it spawned, healing the earth. Lastly, a group formed Iftel, guarded and protected by the Sunlord."

She flicked her tail slowly. The teachers hadn't told her about any of that, but then, they had focused on Valdemar and the history of the country, which was fifteen hundred years or so. "A long time ago, that." Jacinth said.

"True enough." Moonsong admitted. "But those wars triggered a cataclysm in their end, with the destruction of a large number of artefacts and the deaths of both mages. That cataclysm echoed through time and came again a bit over a century ago." She said. "It was the first time many people had seen creatures that were intelligent, but not human. Change-Children and Change-Beasts they are called." She explained. "Which could be part of why people have problems with you." She snorted softly. "Hale, my bondbird, called you a 'giant, winged Hertasi', because you look like one to him."

Jacinth frowned. "Would that be the bird that attacked me earlier?"

Moonsong frowned. "Well… he did come flying back to me, babbling about you so… maybe." She said. "If he did, I'm sorry."

"Apology accepted." Jacinth said, flicking her tail slowly. She would have said more, but a large kestrel swooped into the room to settle near Moonsong and shrieked at her. Recognising the bird, Jacinth hissed back at it.

Moonsong sighed, reaching up to tap Hale on the beak. "Enough Hale. Jacinth is a guest, and should be treated with respect." She said.

_:Scary, winged Hertasi. Snap at Hale.:_ Hale replied. _:No like big, winged Hertasi.:_

Moonsong snorted. "Well, if you went at her, what else is she supposed to do?" She asked the bird.

Hale fluffed up his feathers. _:Crest pretty. Want feather.:_ He said.

Jacinth snorted. "It's not feathers, it's hair." She said, causing Moonsong to blink.

"You can hear him?" Moonsong asked, leaning forward slightly.

She nodded. "Enough to get a sense of the words." Jacinth said, flicking her tail slowly. "It's… not all that different from listening to some of the Drathrae on the ship."

Moonsong frowned. "Drath-ray?" She asked. "What are those?"

"They're small dragons, about the size of a house cat." Jacinth explained. "They aren't from my home world, but from another."

Moonsong went to ask what Jacinth meant by that, but was interrupted by Starfire's entrance into the room. Looking up at her mentor, she sighed. "Don't tell me that you were in the council chamber all night, again, Ambassador." She said. Sighing again, she got to her feet and helped Starfire to a chair as a Hertasi — either the same one as earlier or another, she couldn't tell the difference that well — appeared with food and drink and set them down on a table near the chair Starfire collapsed in.

Starfire sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. "The Ambassadors from Hardorn and Karse spent most of the night arguing over details that didn't matter to anyone else." He said, then blinked at the sight of Jacinth. "Why is there a Chang—"

"Jacinth is not a Change-Child, Ambassador." Moonsong interrupted him. "What she says is too fantastic to be lies, and she claims lineage to a place on no one's maps of our world."

Jacinth simply snorted. "I am a Rhyl'saar." She said. "And not from your world." She added, flicking her tail.

Starfire frowned, drinking from a glass. "You stink of wild magic, child." He said, shifting slightly as he shifted to Mage Sight. "And something is attached to your arms, leeching off the magic that seeps into you."

She frowned slightly. "Those are probably the spirits that form my weapons." Jacinth said, flicking her tail. "As I told Moonsong, I am a Hreathrae Dforgrym. The weapons mark us, and let us fight things that normal weapons wouldn't touch."

Moonsong blinked. "You didn't tell me anything about weapons." She said. "You said you were a… 'flight cadet' I think it was."

"You didn't ask about weapons." Jacinth pointed out. "And I did tell you about the Dforgrym, because you asked about it." She shrugged her wings. "Herald Daria knows more, mostly because she escorted me here."

"You were escorted here by a Herald-Mage?" Starfire asked. "Why?"

"Daria was coming to Haven after being given two items I had been taking to the _Tempest_, and escorting the boy that found them." Jacinth said. "We ran into each other at a farm that had been attacked by demon summoner." She flicked her tail, looking embarrassed. "Well, they ran into me, after I gave the Oaths that granted me the weapons and I took out the bad guys." She said, flicking her tail. "And fell unconscious from the drain of dealing with the mage." She added, looking even more embarrassed.

The two Tayledras shared a look. "And what did you do to the mage that made you pass out?" Starfire asked.

Jacinth flicked her tail. "He summoned a demon, I used my Aspect form and chased it off, killing the mage in the process." She said.

Starfire frowned. The energy he could sense in Jacinth was 'other', but he couldn't tell exactly what type of other it was, except that it was wild. Maybe this 'Aspect' was bleeding energy to the youngling. It might also explain why she passed out, especially if that had been the first time. "Had you done anything like that before?" He asked.

She shook her head. "No, that was the first time." Jacinth replied, then snorted. "I only took the Oaths a few minutes before, and until they are taken, we have neither Aspect support, nor the weapons."

"I… see." He was beginning to at least. Maybe later, he should talk to one or another of the Shin'a'in, see if he could find out what the Goddess oath for the Kal'enedral involved in terms of 'aid'. He knew the Sword-Sworn were bound to the Kal'enel, or Warrior aspect of the Star-Eyed, maybe these 'Aspects' and 'Dforgrym' were similar. "Hmm… Power seeps into you from Elsewhere, maybe when you used that… ability, your body was unused to the power required to manifest it. Certainly Gifts need time and use to strengthen, in a way, maybe that ability is a Gift."

Jacinth flicked her tail slowly, taking a sip of her drink. "Maybe." She said. "I've heard of others being able to use it longer than I did, but that could also be due to the bonds they had." She said, frowning slightly. "I didn't have any until the end of that fight, when Civa decided to Chose me, before I collapsed, but…" she shrugged her wings. "Dad has two bonds, and he can hold things for an hour or two at a stretch, and he doesn't go down for as long as I did. Neither does Mom." She said.

Moonsong shifted slightly, moving back to her own seat. "Who is your father?" She asked. "And who is Civa?"

Starfire frowned. "Civa… Civa… I've heard that name before." He said, crossing his arms and leaning back as he thought.

"My father is Commander Neeran, son of Veeran of the Lost Hills." Jacinth replied. "He commands the _Tempest_." She said. "Civa is one of the Companions." She added.

­­­Moonsong blinked. "The one that came in with the para­—­­­"

"The twins that came in a few days ago." Starfire exclaimed. "I knew I had heard the name before." He said, giving Jacinth a measuring look. "From what I heard, there seemed to be some confusion as to just who she had Chosen, because she had two riders."

Jacinth snorted softly. "No, she could just carry two more easily than Nath, because I'm built for flying, and it was faster to leave the horse at the farm."

Moonsong blinked at Jacinth. "But… that means you're a…."

She snorted again. "I'm a Knight first." Jacinth said. "And until I can convince more than just Daria that I'm worthy of being a Herald, I'm not going to claim the title." She said.

Starfire shifted slightly. "Maybe so, youngling, but I see what brought you here now." He said, sipping from his drink. "Tayledras are allies to many non-human species, it's only natural that in the face of adversity, one seeks out the company of those more willing to accept you for yourself, whether you have skin, feathers, fur or scales covering you." He told Jacinth. As an ambassador to Haven, he had noticed that several people tended to stick to certain groups, and that the non-humans were more comfortable around those that accepted them more easily, like his group or the Iftelians. "Given the way that you have spoken for yourself, and that Moonsong has spoken for you, you are welcome here in the future." He said.

"Thank you." Jacinth said gratefully. At least now she had more people willing to accept her for what she was, even if it was different to what they were used to. Hearing bells sound out from the Collegium, she sighed. "Unfortunately, I've got lessons to get to, and the teacher isn't exactly endeared to me." She added, getting to her feet.

Getting to her feet as well, Moonsong showed Jacinth out. "If you are having problems with people, Jacinth, it might be an idea to try talking to the Dean or the King's Own." She said. "They are two of the more powerful Heralds where the Collegium and its students are concerned. At least from what I have observed from the outside. If it is anyone's job to ensure that those Chosen can get along, and will be able to do the jobs their future holds, it is those two."

Jacinth nodded slightly. "Thank you, for both the advice, and the acceptance you've shown me." She said. She wasn't going to go to either the Dean, or the King's Own yet, but if people didn't start treating her with at least some respect, then she would. Shaking Moonsong's hand briefly, she turned and leapt off the balcony, flying towards the collegium and her classes.

* * *

Getting out of yet another session with the Healers and Mages, Ronlyn gave a frustrated sigh. The way they were poking at him over how the armour pod reacted to his presence was getting more than a little annoying. Of course, he guessed that they have a point, since the thing was completely new and they wanted to make sure it was safe — and that it could be copied — since they had heard what Daria had observed about the pod that had bound itself to Jacinth. Why they didn't try talking to Jacinth he didn't know. After all, if there was anything like an expert on the equipment she had brought, it would be her.

At least they had given him the rest of the day to himself, and had even told him to go out into the city proper, though he had to be careful and not go into the area around Exile's Gate. Ronlyn snorted to himself. Yeah, right, like he actually _wanted_ to go into the quarter that was infested by thieves and worse. Getting mixed up with some of the types that were likely to congregate in that sort of area was not on his list of things to do. Ever. That would be the reason he had claimed the pistol back. Jacinth had been showing him how to use it since the battle in which they had rescued the two newly Chosen, and while he wasn't as good as she was, at least it was a weapon, just in case trouble decided to come calling.

Making his way out of the gates, and nodding at the guard's warning, which was almost a repeat of the one the Mages had given him, he headed into the city. Maybe he could find something within his means for Jacinth. After everything she had done for the people along their shared path, he felt she deserved some type of recognition. The question was, whether he could find something that would suit her, and was cheap enough that he could buy it given his 'allowance' from his parents, didn't really amount to much. Even though he had been saving it because he had been travelling with Herald Daria, and she had been the one paying for the things along the road.

Following the road into the city proper, Ronlyn took the time to wander around Haven, browsing the items on display in the shop windows as he looked for something that he could afford and that Jacinth might like. He found one eventually, in a jewellery shop a bit out from the centre of town, a silver chain set with a white stone. After using most of his money to buy it, he left the shop and headed back towards the palace.

It was on the way back that it happened. One moment he was walking along one of the city streets, taking the time to enjoy the sights, the next, he was being dragged into an alleyway by someone behind him. Someone a fair bit stronger than a teenage boy.

Struggling with his captor only made the person hit him with a heavy fist, making his ears ring. Seeing stars, Ronlyn grunted as he landed on the ground with a thump. He was in trouble it seemed, though the question was, what had brought the attack?

He must have blanked out for a while because the next thing he knew, he was tied with his hands behind his back, completely naked and lying on something rough.

"So that's the one?" Someone asked from behind him. "Our master will be glad. The Change-Creature in the Heralds causes… problems." The same person continued.

Ronlyn grimaced. That sounded like Trouble, it deserved the capital letter because whatever happened, it sounded like people were going to die. He shifted against the ropes, testing them. He needed to get out of here, fast.

Unfortunately all it did was draw the notice of whatever guards were around, and a heavy boot crashed into his head, his stomach and his head again, dazing him and knocking the wind out of him.

As he lay there, blood oozing from a broken nose, Ronlyn tried to focus his vision through the pain and regain his breath, only to find that he couldn't. His skin itched, and his eyes burned as though he had been dumped in a bath full of ants, or worse.

He shifted again, trying to get away from the itches, only to find that they got worse. Wriggling again, he gasped as a foot slammed into his side again, and again, until he was unable to move, and barely able to hold onto consciousness.

Blood roared in his ears as he drifted towards unconsciousness. He had to get out of here. Jacinth _had_ to know about these people, ones that would hurt or kill her. The itching increased as small scales started to push out of his skin. His back bowed up off the floor as skin ripped and tore. Growling, Ronlyn managed to roll himself onto his stomach, the ropes, which had been tied around a human's arms and legs, stretched and snapped as the changes rippled through the boy's body. Blood splashed the walls and ceiling as wings and a tail pushed out of the once human boy.

Pushing himself up, Ronlyn growled as the changes finished — his snout pushing out and his mane growing — leaving his blood, and skin, covering the floor where he had lain. He had to get out of here. And get his things back. He couldn't leave the pistol here, not given the power it possessed, and the necklace was a gift, which he had spent a lot on. Leaving it for the sorts of people that would do what they had to him was not in his plans.

Sniffing the air, he snorted at the stench of his own blood and rapidly decaying skin. Looking around, he spotted a door off to one side. That must have been where the people had gone, and where they had brought him in. Starting for it, he slipped in the blood and grunted as he landed on his snout. Grumbling about not knowing his own balance, Ronlyn pushed himself back up onto all fours, not wanting to try standing upright yet, since he didn't know how much the wings and tail would affect his balance.

Moving slowly until he got the hang of walking, Ronlyn made for the door, only to end up ducking behind several crates as it opened suddenly.

"I'm tellin' ye, I 'eard somethin' growlin' in 'ere wiv the boy." A male voice said. "An' I knows we ain' go' no dogs."

Another person snorted. "Ye're 'earin' things is whot it is." The person replied as they passed Ronlyn's hiding place.

Backing up slowly, Ronlyn kept the crates between himself and the humans, trying to get to the door again. He needed to get out of here, find his things and get back to the palace.

"'Ere, now." One of the humans exclaimed when they got to the place where he had been tied up. "Where's the boy? An' whots all this mess 'ere?"

Looking back over his shoulder as he crossed the distance from the crates to the door, Ronlyn saw one of the men kneel down and dip his fingers into the blood. Now he was likely in trouble.

"It's blood." The man said. "An' the boy's gone." He added, getting up. Turning to his companion, he blinked as he saw a lizard tail disappear through the door. "'Ere, did you see tha'?" He asked.

The other man turned too late. Ronlyn was out of the main store and half way to freedom.

More confident of his abilities now, Ronlyn snuck through the warehouse he had been brought to, hunting for his missing gear. He finally found it in some sort of upstairs office, or at least that was what the room looked like from his glance inside. The people inside would be trouble, especially since there were at least ten of them that he had seen. Now would be when having that armour would be very nice. If only he knew how Jacinth had called hers to her.

He ducked back, moving into the shadows beside the office as footsteps approached. Maybe he could take them out one at a time…. Seeing the man from earlier move in front of the dark corner he was hiding in, Ronlyn shifted carefully, his tail brushing against the wall, before lunging at the man.

The move didn't go as planned. Tripping over something, maybe even one of his wings, Ronlyn went flying and crashed into the man he had targeted, both going down in a tangle of limbs. So close up, Ronlyn could smell the stench of alcohol on the man's breath, and see the dirty, rotten teeth. Growling as the man tried to push him off, he struggled, trying to get a grip, his claws tearing deep furrows in the man's flesh.

The man yelled at the pain from the wounds the claws made, drawing attention from inside the room. Hearing others approaching, Ronlyn gathered himself and leapt for the shadows, his foot claws shredding the man's guts. Landing in the shadows, he swallowed as nausea burned the back of his throat. There would be time for that later. Besides, it wasn't as if this person was the first to die by his hands.

Hearing yells from the people behind him, Ronlyn swallowed again and hurried into the deeper shadows in front of him. There was no way he could fight _all_ of them at once. Jacinth could, or Daria, or hell, that ass of a weapons master, Lan, but he couldn't. He also couldn't let them drive him too far from his things. Making his way around the office — or whatever — that was providing the shadows to this 'alley', Ronlyn settled in to wait. The best thing to do would be to pick them off from the shadows.

He didn't have to wait long before someone came poking around. Two someones, with lanterns. Not helpful. Flicking his tail, Ronlyn waited until they were past him before leaping after the male. This time the attack went closer to how he had planned it. Claws sank into flesh, followed by teeth as the man gave a pained bellow, going down under Ronlyn's weight. Tearing out a chunk of flesh from the man's neck, Ronlyn spat, making a face. Okay, his blood and skin had stank, but they had been decaying, the taste of this man though? He so was going to drink a barrel of water to get the rotten, disgusting taste of human flesh out of his mouth. Yee-uck!

The problem though, was that he hadn't silenced the man, who was struggling under him, bleeding from the neck wound. Well, that and the fact that the yell had attracted the other human's attention, who turned to see what had happened and screamed. Ronlyn winced, growling. Extracting his claws from the man's back he slashed at his head for a moment before getting a grip and pounding it into the wooden floor boards. Pressing down, he heard something crunch, and felt the head move in a decidedly unnatural way, blood spreading slowly around it, creating a pool.

Looking up as the woman shrieked again, he growled and started for her, causing her to flee. Snorting, Ronlyn got off his second kill and followed more slowly, not wanting to run into any traps. She led him back to the room where his gear was, which was now empty because of the hunt for him. Smiling slightly, Ronlyn tried the door. The smile got wider when he found it unlocked. Slipping cautiously inside, he made his way over to where his things were and grabbed the pistol and Jacinth's present. Clothes he didn't need right now, and he didn't exactly have time to bundle them up. Plus the blood would ruin them.

Okay, so now he had his things, or most of them anyway, the question was now which way was out? Flicking his tail slowly, he looked around the room, then blinked as he spotted himself in a mirror. What the hell a mirror was doing in a warehouse he didn't want to think. What it showed though, was another story. For a start, he had a snout, and a mane, and scales, dark blue ones that faded to black as he looked down at his arms and legs. There were also lighter blue streaks running across them, and the mane matched. His tail flicked as he studied himself. This was not what he had been expecting. He looked like one of Jacinth's kind.

Hearing something near the door, Ronlyn shook his head and ducked down, instinctively heading for shadow. He could look at himself — and figure out how in havens he had ended up this way, and how to turn himself back — later. First he had to get out of here. Unfortunately, it looked like getting out would mean cutting and running through people or shooting everything in sight. The former was likely going to be the less bloody and entangling, and he had enough blood on his hands — and feet… and teeth — already.

Waiting until the noise had faded, Ronlyn took a deep breath and ran for the door. Getting out of the office, he made his way back into shadows and started hunting for the way down — and out as quietly as he could.

* * *

He had managed to get out of the warehouse. Unfortunately he had picked up far too many tails. The fact that he had been in what was probably part of Exile's Gate, and had killed someone else on the way out of the warehouse likely hadn't helped anything.

Darting through the crowds, Ronlyn skidded into an alley. He needed to get back to the palace, but the people following him, and the crowds around the city, were making things more than a little difficult. Following the alley, he groaned, finding the end walled off. Obviously he wasn't going this way. Turning back the way he had come, Ronlyn grimaced, seeing several people entering the alley, blocking off his escape. This was likely going to be bad.

Lashing his tail, he backed up slightly, wondering if he would have time to shoot at least a few of them down before the rest got to him. Maybe seeing their companions' heads — or something else — explode would make the others more wary about approaching.

Moving carefully, he raised himself up on two feet, one hand holding the necklace he had gotten for Jacinth. In the other hand, he held the pistol he had been given — and recently reclaimed. Aiming carefully, he squeezed off a shot at one of the armed men, and watched him collapse almost instantly. Two men stopped to stare at their fallen comrade, and Ronlyn dropped them as well, both with shots to the torso, before the others got wise to what was happening and made for cover. They probably thought he was using some kind of magic or Gift on them.

Seeing the humans ducking into cover, Ronlyn fired several shots at the areas they had hidden behind before making for the entrance to the alley. Something else he wished he had. The knowledge of how the hells to fly. At least flying would be faster than running, and unless people had ranged weapons, they wouldn't be able to attack him in the air.

Given he didn't have the knowledge though, he was stuck with doing things the old fashioned way. Running past his opponents' hiding places, he snapped off a shot at them — missing completely, but it at least kept their heads down — before he broke out onto the streets once more, running for the palace.

The screams and shouts of alarm started almost as soon as he entered the nearest market place, unfortunately, Ronlyn didn't have time to actually deal with them as he heard people running behind him again. That could be a problem if he was stuck using this form. At least until people got used to seeing it. He snorted between pants for breath. Yeah, right, sometime in the next millennium most likely.

Growling as people got in his way, Ronlyn worked his way across the square, hopping over a woman that had fallen in the panic, he grunted as something ran into his side. Tightening his grip on his things, he turned and snorted, seeing a young girl sat on the floor. Nosing her briefly, and leaving a smear of dried blood on her cheek, he turned away and growled at the people crowded in front of him. Didn't these people know that the worst thing to do was trap an animal?

Turning around, Ronlyn snarled. Havenites blocked every exit from the market. He knew this type of people, they were much the same as those found in Tinsdale, or his own home town. Townsmen, living in relative safety, and fearing the unknown. He had been human once, not that long ago, but they only saw what he was now, and then only part of it.

"Someone call the Guard." A person called from his left.

"Call the Heralds." Another shouted.

There were other calls as well. For the girl to come away, or for someone to kill him. Ronlyn snorted.

Frowning as he approached what looked to be a crowd or a riot, Kylin shifted slightly, wishing silently that he dared use his natural form, so he could flick his tail. Of course, given his natural form was that of something similar to the Rentaarii, but with bird-like wings sprouting from their shoulders, to say it would attract unwanted attention was an understatement. Still, the situation ahead bore investigation.

Pushing through the crowd, and side-stepping the few attempted attacks on him, Kylin stopped when he got to the innermost ring. There, in the centre of the crowd, surrounded by empty space, was one of the Rhyl'saar, but it was not the one he had been told to keep an eye on. Were there two Rhyl'saarii on this planet now? Certainly none of the infiltrators had been Rhyl'saarii, and yet…. He shifted unconsciously, flicking the tail that was no longer there, before looking down at his arms, communing silently with the spirits that formed his weapons.

The Rhyl'saar, whoever it was, had not taken the Oaths yet. His weapons were not responding to him. Kylin shifted again, looking around at the crowd. These people were more than ready to mob and kill, it was only fear that held them back right now. Fear of the Rhyl'saar, and for the child he could now see still sat near it. This was likely to go very bad, very quickly. Good thing he was trained for 'very bad' situations. Stepping forward slowly, Kylin held his arms out to the sides, a gesture of peace. "_Easy, young one, I will do you no harm._" He said in the Rhyl'saarii tongue. "_All I want is to take the child to safety and stop this becoming worse._" He said as the Rhyl'saar turned on him with a snort.

Ronlyn stared at the man. A human noble that spoke Jacinth's language? How in Havens? He watched the man, then blinked as he came closer. One thing he had noticed about Jacinth was that her eyes were starting to gain a glow, as if power dwelt within them. This human had the same kind of glow in his eyes, which weren't human. "_Are you one of the Hreathrae Dforgrym?_" Ronlyn asked, flicking his tail. Jacinth was more comfortable with humans than they were with her after all, and if could turn into one of her kind, what was to stop others doing the same thing, but taking human bodies?

Well the child could speak the language of the Rhyl'saarii at least, and knew about the Knights. Kylin nodded, moving slowly closer. "_I am._" He said. "_What is a unaligned Rhyl'saar doing so far from home?_" He asked, arching an eyebrow at Ronlyn.

"_I'm not a Rhyl'saar,_" Ronlyn said, backing away slightly and nosing the girl with him towards Kylin. "_Not by birth anyway. I was born south of here, came to Haven because I found some equipment of yours, and was kidnapped and held in Exile's Gate. I turned into this somehow and escaped._"

That was different. Moving forward, Kylin picked up the child carefully, using his thumb to brush the died blood off her face. "_Then how do you know their language?_" He asked.

Ronlyn's wings twitched in what might have been a shrug. "_I was given it, by Companions Civa and Nath when we encountered Jacinth for the first time._" He said. "_Without them doing that, and giving her our language, we couldn't communicate with one another._" He explained, flicking his tail. "_And… she's in danger, the ones that took me, wanted her. Someone's orders. I don't know whose._" He said.

Kylin made a face. He didn't like the sound of that at all. _:Love, could you get onto the Guard and Heralds, if someone hasn't already, and tell them that we have a crowd about ready to riot in the markets.:_ He asked his wife mentally. The information dump they had been given did say that a group called Heralds were the elite law keepers around this sector of the planet, so calling on them was probably par of the course. Hearing bells approaching, he looked up. Maybe the Heralds were already here, or at least one of their horses was. While he was used to intelligent equines, especially since he was one himself, he wasn't used to calling something that looked that close to a horse anything but 'horse' unless he knew its name.

Ronlyn breathed a soft sigh of relief when the child was taken by the Knight. At least that was one problem he no longer had. Of course, there were several others, like the crowd around him, the people that had trailed him this far _and_ convincing whoever the Herald was that he was Ronlyn, not another of Jacinth's kind. He looked up at the sound of bells approaching. Definitely the last then, since there was a Her— The thought cut off as a Companion stepped through the ring of people surrounding him and the Knight, who was taking his time going back to the circle, probably to try to delay action from the humans against him.

Managing to break through the crowd surrounding his Chosen, Darius stumbled slightly as he came to an abrupt stop. When his Call had come, it had been towards a human, male, that much he could tell. He had also been able to tell that while he was being tacked up, his Chosen had managed to start moving, in the direction of the palace! When his Chosen had stopped moving again, and not managed to restart, Darius had decided to go looking, and found a… well, a lizard. A lizard that was currently crouched defensively in the middle of a circle of humans that did not look particularly friendly towards him.

Ronlyn flicked his tail, looking up at the Companion. Almost everyone seemed to have stopped, and the noise from the crowd had quieted, waiting to see what the Companion did. Given the way it was staring at him, he could guess who it had been coming for. The question was, should he try talking to it in Valdemaran, or pretend to be a real alien and make people think that there were two Rhyl'saarii Heralds around when there was only one? Eventually, he decided to try setting himself up as another Rhyl'saar, at least until he got out of here and managed to talk to that Knight, whoever he was, that had taken the child to safety. "_What do you want, horse?_" He snarled in Jacinth's tongue. "_Come to stare at a lonely Rhyl'saar?_" He asked.

Darius blinked, not understanding any of that any more than the crowd, which shifted fearfully, did. How the heck was he supposed to proceed from here? Maybe Nath, or better, Civa would know. Reaching out to the Field, he found Civa mentally. _:Uh… Civa?:_ He asked.

Looking up from her grazing, and flicking her ears, Civa cocked her head slightly. _:Yes, Darius?:_ She responded.

_:I uh… I seem to have found another like your Chosen as my own.:_ Darius said, watching Ronlyn. What the hells did he do? _:You've dealt with an… unusual Chosen, how should I proceed?:_ He asked.

That got Civa's attention. _:Another? One of Civa's kind?:_ She asked. Getting a confirmation from Darius, she snorted, kicking the ground with her hoof. How the heck had another of Jacinth's kind gotten here without something picking it up? And why in Havens was it here anyway? _:Go down, Chose it the way you normally would, and get it back here fast.:_ Civa said. _:And get yourself into the Field and find me or Nath. If what you say is true, then you'll need its language, and it will need ours.:_ She told him.

He huffed out a sigh. Well that was a big help, and Choosing something so… alien in front of such a crowd…. Darius wasn't sure that this was such a good idea right now, unfortunately it didn't look like he had any choice in the matter. Making his way forward, he watched as the lizard stood up on its hind legs. What was this male's name again? It seemed to have slipped out of his mind while he wasn't looking. _:Um….:_ He started, Speaking to the lizard.

Lovely, it really was his turn to be Chosen. Ronlyn flicked his tail. If he was going to play 'alien Herald' he needed a name, quickly. Good thing he had spent time on the journey talking to Jacinth about her people. Frowning slightly, he reached out mentally. _:Companion… I know you want me, but… I don't want you using my real name right now.:_ He said, flicking his tail. _:While I wear scales I am Xerrick, son of Kalrick.:_

Darius snorted in surprise, blinking. Now that really was weird. What did his Chosen mean by _not_ using his real name? _:Err… Okay.:_ He agreed, flicking his tail. _:Then… Xerrick, I am Darius and I Choose you to be my Herald.:_ He said. _:My brother.:_ Darius added on a whim.

He could feel the love from the Companion and closed his eyes for a moment, just a moment to enjoy himself. Placing a hand on Darius' shoulder, Ronlyn flicked his tail as he opened his eyes again. He had found a piece of himself that he hadn't even known was gone, but he didn't have the time to savour things.

Ronlyn took a step forward to mount his new Companion, but suddenly found that instead of making things better, it'd actually made it _worse_. He yelped as someone grabbed his tail.

"Keep it away from the Companion!"

The words echoed in his ears, making him realise they thought he was going to _hurt_ Darius! This couldn't be good. He snarled, trying to get free without hurting anyone and heard several equine snorts of annoyance from Darius. Finally, he gave up with 'peaceful' and turned on whoever was holding his tail snarling viciously, making them release his tail and scramble back, he crouched again, trying to get to the Companion's side once again.

The crowd continued to push him back, and try to 'protect' the Companion. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, Ronlyn growled. As little as he wanted to actually hurt anyone that was just trying to live their life, and protect Darius, he was more than a little annoyed already, and hurt. Shifting his grip on his pistol, he pointed it at the ground in front of the advancing mob and fired several shots, cobbles boiling or exploding as the invisible bolts struck them. Sighing softly as that caused the humans to cease their advance, he lashed his tail. Growling, he heard the Guard beginning to push through the crowd.

"Here now! Break it up!" Ronlyn managed a glance and found a Guard next to Darius. "Sir, just where are you tryin' to get?" The question, directed at the Companion seemed to quiet some of the crowd.

Darius snorted and pushed his way through to nose Ronlyn gently. He looked back at the Guard, stomping one hoof as the crowd surged again.

The Guard looked between the horse and the Change-creature in front of him. "Ya sure about that, sir?" He asked, grunting and pushing back people still. When Darius nodded, he huffed out a sigh. "Alright then, ya get your Chosen up to the Palace." He turned to the crowd. "Now back off ye lot or it'll be jail for ya!" He ordered, pushing people back away and giving Ronlyn and Darius room.

Making his way around to Darius' side, he mounted up quickly. _:As much as I wish we had time for things, could we get to the palace?:_ He asked. _:And could you ask Jacinth, Daria, Nath and Civa to meet us.:_ He grimaced. _:The reason I look the way I do kinda involves her, and I need to give her something.:_ He said.

Frowning at the odd request, Darius nodded slightly. _:Alright, Chosen, but I want a full explanation about what you meant by the things you said.:_ He said, turning for the palace.

Ronlyn nodded slightly. _:You'll get it, and hopefully someone will know more about this… trick of mine.:_ He said, flicking his tail. _:As useful as it is… I don't know much about it.:_

Darius nodded, pushing through the crowd as the Guard dispersed them back to whatever they had been doing before things started.


	8. Trouble in the Wind

Disclaimer

I don't own Velgarth et al, nor do I own the xenos/aliens, however the characters and Knights are mine.

Reviewers

Angelnot – Well, I'm glad I've caught your interest. On the other side, there's a good reason you don't know the Knights. They're original, and since this is a fanfic, I'd rather keep most of the attention on the Valdemaran side of things.

Warbender – Didn't update this as soon as you probably wanted War, but things have been bad this past term what with the move at work, the piss poor project management and lousy execution.

sparkyCSI – There's one or two more twists pending, but they'll come out when we get to that part of the story. Might even be a couple in this chapter.

GinaStar – Ronlyn's better now, but someone else is in for a few metaphorical knocks.

* * *

"Alright, so what's this about?" Jacinth asked, flicking her tail as she and Civa entered a copse within the Field. Ducking under a branch, she stopped, staring in shock at the other Rhyl'saar. "_Who the heck are you and how'd you get here?_" She asked, switching to her own language.

Looking up at the voice, Ronlyn snorted. "Jacinth, it's me, Ronlyn." He said, flicking his tail.

"It is Ronlyn, Jac." Daria said. "I asked Nath to check, since he had been inside Ronlyn's head before." She explained, gesturing at her Companion, who was standing watch over Darius, who had just received the Rhyl'saarii language, and was a bit wobbly. "He said that Ronlyn's 'odd' Gift had manifested and turned him into something like you somehow." She explained.

Jacinth flicked her tail, walking slowly up to Ronlyn. "'Odd Gift'?" She asked, crouching beside Ronlyn. "Is that really your body, or is it illusion?" She asked.

Ronlyn flicked his tail. "It's my body." He said, before looking down at his hands. "I was kidnapped by people wanting to hurt you, and turned into this." He said, looking up at her. "I killed some of them." He made a face. "I can still taste the blood, and feel a man's skull shatter under my hand." He said softly.

"That would be why I didn't want Ronlyn involved in the fighting last time." Daria said, taking a tankard of cider from a Hertasi that appeared out of the trees and passing it to Ronlyn. "And yes, an odd gift, magic and 'skin shaping' Nath described it as, that being what Healers use when they use their Gift to close flesh wounds."

Jacinth frowned, flicking her tail. "I've never heard of that, but… some beings can shape shift." She said. "I don't know much about how it works though." Still frowning, she pulled out her datapad, which she still kept with her, despite it not being as much use as it once was, and activated it, interfacing with her fighter's databank. Then she blinked. "What the…?" Frowning, she worked on the pad for a few moments before pulling up an article and passing it to Ronlyn. "That's what I can find on known types." She said. "But… I should not have been able to find that… my fighter cannot interface with the network the Knights use from here. Especially not the state it's in."

Flicking his tail, Ronlyn sipped the cider. "I… ran into someone that claims to be a Knight in the market, just before Darius showed up." He said, starting to read the information on the datapad. "He was a noble, but he had glowing eyes, like you, and spoke your language."

Jacinth flicked her tail. Why would Knights come here, and yet _not_ contact her? Especially the one in Haven, when she was here and hardly hidden from people, despite where she was. "Why wouldn't they contact me?" She asked. "I mean, I've hardly been well hidden, and most everyone would know about the fighter… and they should have detected the emergency buoy upstairs, and the fighter on the ground if people are down _this_ close."

Daria rolled her eyes. "Jacinth, you're only one person, even in Haven, one person, no matter how strange, won't necessarily stand out from the crowd." She said. "Yes they might know about there being a wrecked fighter on the palace grounds, and know that one of theirs has gone down here, but that doesn't mean they know it's you, or even that you're alive." She told the younger dragon. "Besides, you left your fighter in a cave; we could have stumbled across it and brought it here for the Mages and Artificers to study for all they know." Daria took a breath and let it out slowly. "And… if your people are here, who is to say that they are here because of you?" She asked. "A life bearing planet with civilisation? I don't know how rare or common that is, but I'd imagine that blundering in isn't going to be the best plan for contact. Even military want some knowledge of local conditions."

_:And there might be the possibility of not wanting to complicate things further.:_ Civa added, nosing her Chosen. _:After all, __**one**__ alien… even two, you can pass off, but more than that and things will make what you and I, and Darius and Ronlyn if he stays as he is for being a Herald, look simple by comparison. Like comparing the war with Karse with the Mage Storms, or one of those sword wielding bandits with that mage from the farm.:_ She said, flicking her tail slowly.

"Your human companion speaks the truth, young Knight." A voice said from the bushes. "Though, in a round about way, we are here because you are, Jacinth." Kylin said, stepping into sight, now in his natural form, short roan fur shifting in the slight breeze coming through the trees.

Jacinth blinked, turning on the source of the voice, and froze as the spirits forming her weapons reacted to the presence of more of their kind. Whoever this was, he was a Knight, though he was not of a species she knew. "May I ask your name and rank, Knight?" She asked.

Kylin smiled. "Aarulf Soldier Kylin, Second Lieutenant, recently of the _DKS Gale_'s marine compliment." He said, flicking his tail slowly.

Jacinth blinked again, and then saluted. The _Gale_ was one of the four _Storm_-class that were in operation, along with the _Storm_ itself, the _Oceanous_ and her own home ship, the _Tempest_. "Sir." She said. "Companion Soldier Jacinth, Flight Cadet of the _DKS Tempest_ reporting." She said to him.

Looking between the two Knights, Nath snorted softly. _:Remember what I said back at the farm, Daria? About Jacinth jumping to obey her own?:_ He asked his Chosen. When she nodded slightly, he flicked his tail. _:This would be about as perfect an example of what I meant as you could get.:_ He informed her.

Shifting slightly, Daria studied the new comer. He looked like nothing so much as what might happen if you blended some horse blood into humans. Enough to give certain traits like the hooves, fur and muzzle. The odd things about him though, were the bird like wings and the horn. They were out of place with her mental image of what this Kylin was, but they looked like they were a part of him. She could also taste the magic seeping to him. It had the same wildness about it as the magic surrounding Jacinth. "'Lieutenant Kylin' was it?" She asked.

Turning to look at the human, Kylin flicked his tail and nodded. "That is what most call me." He said. "And you are?"

"Herald-Mage Daria, Chosen of Nath." Daria responded, gesturing to her Companion. "Nath and I were the ones, along with Ronlyn here," She said, nodding at Ronlyn. "That found Jacinth, shortly before Civa Chose her." She explained briefly. "I was wondering, could I ask you a few questions?" She asked.

Moving to lean against a tree, Kylin flicked his tail slowly. "I won't promise answers, since some of the things you ask might be things I am forbidden to speak of." He said. "Though one thing that I believe needs doing, is to teach… Ronlyn how to shift back to his own form. Or at least teach him enough of the basics that he can figure out the vagaries of his own version of the shift."

Ronlyn blinked. "You could teach me what to do?" He asked.

Kylin shrugged slightly. "Maybe. My own may well be different enough to make teaching difficult." He said, flicking his tail. "Though that said, most variants I've heard of have some commonality. Enough that, hopefully, I can teach you how to avoid killing yourself turning into something that can't live."

Ronlyn sighed in relief. That was one thing he did not need to worry about quite as much as he had been at least. He looked up, meeting Kylin's eyes. "You were the one at the market, weren't you?" He asked, flicking his tail. "The noble that got the kid out of harm's way."

Kylin nodded. "Yes. Which is why I knew about you, and sought you out." He said, before turning to Daria. "You had questions, Herald. Ask them." He said.

Shifting slightly, Daria nodded. "First of all, what species are you?" She asked. Strange… once it had been hard to think of other species, despite the gryphons she had had as teachers, or the Hertasi and Kyree wandering around, now it was natural to ask and not judge because of it. Jacinth had obviously taught her a few things. "Secondly, when you and Jacinth introduced yourselves to each other, you both used two titles. What do they mean?" She asked. "Third, what is the _Gale_? Something like Jacinth's _Tempest_?" Now for the big one. "Lastly, you said before that you were and weren't here because of Jacinth, could you explain that?"

He snorted softly. The Herald certainly did not beat around the bush. "This might take a while, so I hope you are comfortable." Kylin said, flicking his tail slowly. He waited until everyone was seated, and all three Companions were gathered closer, listening. "The Hreathrae Dforgrym have, in effect, two rank structures. The first is military ranks, which depend on your role and whether you are an officer or an enlisted." He said, frowning slightly. "The one you're probably familiar with is the army and marine structure. Most are privates, rank and file soldiers, but you split them into groups, led by sergeants, who look to an officer, a lieutenant like me usually. We answer to a captain, and so on up the chain." He explained. "Fliers have their own ranks, but they follow a similar structure. The navy — the ones responsible for running the bigger ships — once again have their own names for the ranks and a slightly different structure."

Jacinth nodded, flicking her tail. "Usually the ships have enlisted and officers that look to one senior ranked, who is in charge of the ship." She said. "Like Dad. He's the Commander on the _Tempest_, no one else is that rank, and no one else can give orders to the entirety of the ship's crew."

Kylin nodded. "Exactly." He said. "Now, the other thing is not so much a rank as a title. An easy way to tell what someone bonded to first, and how many they have." He said, shifting slightly. "I have a single bond, and that was an Aarulf, an intelligent wolf-like creature that can pass for an over large 'wolfhound'. Jacinth also has one bond, but to a Companion." He said, nodding at Civa. "Because of that, we're 'Soldiers'. If either of us got a second bond, we would become Riders." He said. "And yes, _Gale_ is like _Tempest_." He added. "Actually, _Gale_ is one of _Tempest_'s older siblings because they are the same class."

Well that made some sense at least, though it was rather different to what she was used to. Maybe another time, if she could find time to talk with Kylin somewhere, or Jacinth, she could find out a bit more about the ranks and titles their people used. Daria nodded slightly. "Alright, I believe I understand that." She said.

Kylin flicked his tail slowly and nodded himself. "Now, as for what I am." He said, shifting slightly. "I am one of the Hiiryn." He said. "My kind are, in a way, similar to the Rentaarii, but for the wings we Hiiryn bear." He said. "And the fact we are from another world entirely." Which was one reason for his presence here, his kind were not known to be associated with the Knights, of course, that was because most were roamers that had left their home world, not because their home world was known to the Knights.

"As for why we are here." Kylin continued, shifting and stretching his wings slightly. "We found the planet over a year ago, but didn't bother with it because while it was habitable, we didn't have the resources to do a full check on it." He said. "Then Jacinth landed here by chance, and got involved with your group, Herald." Kylin said, nodding to Daria. "And that resulted in us finding out from the Powers, but being asked not to interfere by Them. So we aren't. Directly. A routine follow up patrol found things that made us look closer at your world, and people like me were dispatched to gather information and get a feel for the planet." He frowned, flicking his tail slowly as he remembered something. "And… I think there's a report somewhere stating that the _Tempest_ is providing the closest support, from a pirate base they captured. Maybe the one that was home to the pirates that forced you here." He told Jacinth, who blinked.

"Did that report say anything about the rest of my squad?" Jacinth asked, her tail flicking as she sat on her hands to keep herself from snatching her data pad back and looking for herself.

Kylin frowned, trying to remember. "Last report said they had found one of your squad mates, the leader was injured and recovering, and all but one of the others beyond you were safe. That one was missing in action from the same time as you. They don't know his status." He said. "The other, the one that had been found had been taken by the pirates, but he was recovering in your ship's sick bay."

Letting out a breath, Jacinth closed her eyes. All but one, since they knew where she was. And now she could probably talk to her parents and friends again. Her squad mates were all right, or would be. All except one. Who was that missing pilot? Which one of the friends she had in the squad was she not going to be able to talk to again? "Whichever Power was involved in getting that, It has my thanks." She said softly, shifting as Daria moved to put an arm around her.

Kylin nodded slightly. "I would imagine several others are saying the same, both because you are found and because your squad mate has been." He said. "Right now though, I need to try to teach your friend, so could I ask you all for some space?" He asked.

Daria nodded slightly, getting to her feet and drawing Jacinth with her. "Would you mind if we stayed?" She asked. "At least until we sort things out." Right now, Ronlyn was officially a guest, helping with the armour and laser he had found, while Xerrick was a new Herald. They needed to figure out how to balance things to keep the link quiet. Maybe even within the Heralds. At least beyond a select few. They certainly needed to keep the existence of the others, like Kylin, a secret. Especially from the general populous and even more especially given what had happened in the market place earlier today.

"It would be for the best, I think." Kylin said. "After all, everybody, now, knows that Darius Chose a 'Change-Child' or an alien, depending on who you talk to." He said, flicking his tail. "Having him running around with…" He cocked his head at Ronlyn.

"Ronlyn." Ronlyn said.

"Ronlyn, then when he has Chosen a lizard will make for trouble somewhere." Kylin said, flicking his tail slowly. "And I can't associate with you openly, since we have not 'met' as yet. I certainly cannot be seen this way." He said, gesturing to himself.

Jacinth flicked her tail, frowning. "Um, Sir. You might want to be careful around the mages beyond Herald Daria." She said. "I was talking to one of the Tayledras earlier and their Ambassador came in on us. Even though I've not long taken the Oaths, he could smell wild magic on me, and could see the spirits that form my weapons." She explained when Kylin looked at her.

"Um." Twitching his tail slightly, Ronlyn looked up at the Knight. "If the girls are sticking around, could we put something up, and get clothes please?" He asked. Going back to bare skin and human form around a pair of females, one of whom was about his own age, the other older, was not something he particularly liked the sound of.

Rolling her eyes, Jacinth flicked her tail. "Humans." She muttered softly. Talk about your odd species.

Kylin snorted in amusement. "Humans, from what I have observed, Jacinth, are rather lacking in natural covering, unlike other species. And, also unlike most species, they keep certain things outside their bodies." He smiled slightly at the two humans. "Something which causes several problems, I would imagine."

Daria nodded. "We do get something of a short shift in that area." She said, her cheeks slightly flushed, though not as much as Ronlyn's. Of course, _he_ was just coming up to adulthood, and had a teenager's nervousness about their body. "Though I would agree that clothing and something to shelter behind are good ideas." It would certainly save Ronlyn the embarrassment, and save the two males going out in the open naked.

The Hiiryn nodded slightly, disappearing back into the trees for a moment before returning with a pack, and a large blanket. "Considering most shifters that I've heard tell of can't do clothes, me included, I figured that getting them set up before starting was a better idea than doing things, then finding there weren't any clothes." Kylin said, flicking his tail. "Now, if you'll help me set up a blanket between the trees, we can get things going."

* * *

Standing by the fence that surrounded the Field, Daria frowned, looking off in the direction that Jacinth's fighter had been taken to be stored out of general view. The girl assured her that it had flown, but she could see why the others, particularly the artificers, were poking fun at it. The thing had been completely trashed, and it was not exactly designed following current ideas of how flight worked. Daria understood some of the reason, because of her knowledge of Jacinth's language, but others did not. They could not, unless one of the older Knights denied to teach. Daria snorted to herself. Like that was going to happen when they were 'under cover'.

Of course, now she had three new problems, besides the fighter and its owner. Ronlyn was a Herald now, one with a very unique gift. No, that was not quite right. _Ronlyn_ was still just helping out with the items he discovered, since he knew how to use one and the other responded to him. _Xerrick_ was the one that was Chosen. The fact that they were the same boy was incidental. Outside herself, Kylin, Jacinth and the… she broke off, trying to think of a term that would cover both the Companions and the canine creature Kylin had talked about.

_:Why not use their term?:_ Nath asked from where he was standing, browsing at the grass. _:It's as good as any, and does actually describe the bond we share fairly well. The only real difference is just what species are involved, not what the bond actually does.:_

Daria rolled her eyes. _:You're not supposed to be poking around my head Nath.:_ She told him. _:Or should I call you 'brother' now, if you're content with using Jacinth and Kylin's terminology?:_ She asked him. Actually, she would not mind that, despite his equine shape, Nath was close enough to be her brother. All the Companions were that close to their Chosen, except the rare few, who were either closer still or more distant.

Nath raised his head to look at her. _:Actually, sister,:_ he said, amusement colouring his mind voice. _:I would quite like that. Of course, doing it in public like this might get us a few odd looks, but I can put up with that.:_ He gave her the mental impression of a grin. _:Can you?:_

She rolled her eyes again. _:You really think you're funny, don't you, Nath?:_ Daria asked him, getting a nod in return. _:Well, you're not.:_ She informed him. _:Besides, we've still got to work out just what we're going to do about things.:_

Nath flicked his tail at a fly, watching Daria. _:Well, tell Kieran, since he's got to deal with 'Xerrick' being brought in and trained. Tell Jodi because she's the King's Own. Keep everyone else, except the King out of it. Except maybe the Tayledras Ambassador, since he's seen Jacinth and is smart enough to put two and two together, unlike most of the mages and council.:_

Daria snorted in amusement. _:Well, he __**is**__ a Tayledras Adept.:_ She noted. _:They tend to be __**slightly**__ better at putting things together and getting the right answers than our own home bred Mages. Not that it makes them any __**less**__ proud and boastful.:_ She was a Herald-Mage, and had trained in the Mages' Collegium, the youngest of the four, built less than a century and a half ago, but she had noticed a lot of mages tended to be proud and boastful of their abilities, especially the more powerful ones. If they decided to take a look at Jacinth they would probably have a few things to ask about the source of the magic she had surrounding her.

_:He also seems to be coming in your direction, possibly to talk to you about Jacinth.:_ Nath said, flicking his tail slowly. _:If you're willing, I'll let you talk to him, and go find Kyrith and tell him about Ronlyn's rather unique Gift, and warn him that we have 'company' that doesn't need to be identified to the council… or the general populace.:_ He said, his ears lying flat for a moment.

Daria sighed. It didn't look like she was going to be getting out of dealing with people while she figured out what to do about the situation she found herself in. _:Alright, I'll talk to him, though if you're going to talk to Kyrith, try to catch him away from things he can bash his head against. We need a Grove-born that is functioning, and we need most of the buildings intact.:_ She said. If Kyrith heard about the other Knights, and Ronlyn, he was likely to want to put a hole in something, not that Daria could blame him, but that wouldn't set a particularly good example for the other Companions, or keep him with Jodi.

"Are you Herald-Mage Daria?" Starfire asked as he approached her. Having just come from a Council session, during which he had listened to several people question the rightness of a lizard Herald, and heard of a different lizard to the one he had encountered previously, he had decided that it was time to talk to the one that had brought the first in.

Daria nodded, shifting slightly. "I am, Ambassador." She said. "What can I do for you?"

"I would like to know more about these newcomers that have been Chosen." He said. Since Daria had brought the female in, maybe she would know at least a little more than her fellows.

"You mean Jacinth and Xerrick?" Daria asked, shifting slightly. Best to keep it that Ronlyn and Xerrick were separate beings, for now at least. When Starfire nodded, she shifted slightly. "Little enough." She said honestly. "They are a species known as 'Rhyl'saarii', originally from the planet Rentaarii." She said, frowning slightly. "Fifty years ago, demons invaded through people there, and others, Rentaarii — the people, not the planet — creatures Jacinth calls xenomorphs, and others came and fought them off, dying for those that wouldn't or couldn't fight for themselves. They were the Hreathrae Dforgrym, which Jacinth grew up among.

"They're similar to Heralds in some ways, but focus on keeping 'Nature's Balance'." Daria explained, frowning as she tried to remember the conversations she had had with Nath, Ronlyn and Jacinth. Especially Jacinth. "They have weapons that are magic, they are Chosen by what they call Aspects, which is likely the source of the Wild Magic that seeps into them, and they have technology beyond ours."

Starfire nodded. "I have seen the Wild Magic in Jacinth, and the things she claims are her weapons." He said. "She said they were spirits." He was not exactly sure on that point, but that was what Jacinth had said. "I would, however, like to know where the second comes from, and why Companions would Chose them."

She frowned, putting her thoughts into order before speaking. "Because what they are, and what they do forges swords in a similar mould to Heralds, at least from what the Companions have said." Daria said, shifting slightly. "And while they would not put their lives after Valdemar as a country, I have no doubt that they would protect her people as people. Even at the cost of their own lives." A fact that Jacinth had proved twice already.

Starfire frowned, sorting things mentally as he listened to what the Herald had to say. "And the second 'Ril-sar'?" He asked.

Now this was going to be the interesting bit, since they had not actually come up with a story for Xerrick's appearance in the Exile's Gate with no previous contact with him. "We're not exactly sure what happened to bring him to our world." Daria replied. "However, unlike Jacinth, Xerrick was captured and brought to Haven through stealth." She said. "He finally managed to escape a day or so ago and fled through the city, causing a near riot in the markets before being Chosen by Darius." She said, taking most of what Ronlyn had said had happened to him after his Gift manifested. "And from what I understand, it should be 'Rhyl'saar', Ambassador." She added. "Rolled first arr and extended ah."

He nodded, repeating her pronunciation to himself to get a feel for it. "So," Starfire said, frowning slightly. "How did they actually come to be here?" He asked. "A Gate spell gone wrong?"

Daria shook her head. "Hardly." She said, before pointing over at Jacinth's wrecked fighter. "That," she said, "is how they came here. Well, how Jacinth came here anyway." She amended, grimacing at the state of the thing. "From what she's said, when she took it, it didn't look like that, and having seen what the personal version of one of the weapons she says it has in action, I can see why it's a wreck." Slight understatement there, and Civa had told Nath, since Nath was the one keeping and eye on the Companions' side of things, about what Jacinth had said about the fighter's weapons.

Turning to look, Starfire blinked at the large metal hulk sitting in the direction Daria pointed. What was it? Some kind of odd metal carriage? "What is it?" He asked.

"A 'star fighter'." Daria replied with a shrug. "I won't even pretend to know just what it should look like or how it works, but it should, in a working condition, allow people to fly between planets, protecting them from the environment."

Starfire arched an eyebrow at that. "That thing can fly?" How? Studying the thing, he tried to figure out just how something as unnatural as the thing in front of them could actually fly.

She shrugged. "It's supposed to, but probably not the way birds or gryphons would fly." Daria said. "For one thing, I don't think the wings move, and for another, from what I got from Jacinth when Nath and Civa gave me her language, I don't think that there's much between planets for that sort of flying to work on." This was likely to get complicated, especially since even the King did not know everything that she knew yet. She had not had a chance to report things in full what with everything that had happened. Still, maybe talking to Starfire would let her organise her thoughts for giving King Gareth a report.

* * *

Leaning against her favourite tree, Lena frowned into the distance. It seemed like there was not one, but _two_ of these 'Rhyl'saar' that had been Chosen now. Why? Were humans just not good enough for the Companions any more or was it something else? Was it something to do with the rising number of Valdemaran citizens that were not human? She was not sure, but she hoped it was the latter rather than the former.

Shifting slightly, she blinked as she spotted Jacinth slipping away from what should be her weapons class towards an unused field. Frowning, she slipped out of the tree and followed Jacinth. Where was the girl going? Lena knew she had gotten into it with the weapons master that news had gone all over the Collegium and not a few people were looking at Jacinth with awe, and not a little fear because of it. Still, that should not mean Jacinth could just skip weapons, so where was she going?

Following the alien girl, Lena stopped at the edge of the field that Jacinth led her to. "What the heck?" She whispered, looking at the field, which now had all manner of obstacles and bars scattered around it. Moving into a bush, she watched as Jacinth started warming up, then moving through the obstacles slowly. The other was obviously trying to get a feel for them, the same way the Companions did on their obstacle course.

She was there for several minutes before another entered the field from the other side. Watching as Jacinth stopped and turned to the new one, Lena blinked as she saluted. What in tarnation? She watched as the other returned the salute and squared off against Jacinth, glowing things extending from both their hands. She knew that Jacinth had, reportedly, used those things in her bout with Weapons Master Lan, but what were they? Once again, Lena did not know, and what she saw did not help as the pair fought against one another, both using the obstacles scattered around, along with their own bodies. This was a much dirtier method of fighting than Lan taught. Dirtier, faster, and more aggressive.

As she watched, Lena gasped as Jacinth swung at the other, and he leapt clear, straight over her head. He was human; surely, he should not be able to do things like that. The next several minutes made even less sense, as the pair in the field continued to clash, both pulling off moves that no human should be capable of.

Then something happened, the man, who she had assumed was human blurred and changed, becoming more bestial. Lena gasped, though Jacinth paid the change no notice, as the now humanoid… well… horse was about the only thing Lena could think of to describe the creature in front of her leapt into the sky, wings snapping out from his back as Jacinth followed, the pair continuing their battle in the air. Was it really practice or was that male something from the netherworlds? If he was, why did he have the same weapons as Jacinth, who had been Chosen? She did not know, but the Dean had to. He had to know that there were more things around.

Bolting from her hiding place, she ran for the palace, ignoring the startled looks from several of her fellow students, and the Companions as she pushed through.

She skidded into the Dean's office, almost tripping over what looked like a large dog to find herself facing not only the Dean, but the King's Own and a female version of the thing she had seen Jacinth battling.

"Sir… I…." Lena started, panting for breath.

Kieran looked up and rolled his eyes. Typical timing. "Lena you have got to be the worst person I know for being in the wrong place at the wrong time." He said, shifting slightly. Seeing her look, he rolled his eyes again. "Oh, come in and close the door." He said. "Since you've obviously seen our… guests or one of them anyway, there's not much point in hiding things from you." He said.

Stepping into the room, Lena closed the door carefully behind her before moving over to the desk, carefully avoiding going too near the alien. "Sir, what's going on?" She asked.

Jodi shifted slightly, motioning the alien woman to explain. She had not heard this yet herself, so she was interested in knowing why Kieran had asked her down here.

"Jacinth's people found out that she was here, and Chosen." Kieran said. "How, I'm not sure, but they did, and because she is Chosen and our world has intelligent life on it, they decided to investigate, mostly covertly." The fact that there was a female horse-woman standing in his office, along with some kind of lizard and a large, talking, dog did not exactly make for covert, but apparently there was a reason for them to be here.

Nyra shifted slightly, shrugging her wings. "We found out because a scout corvette picked up the youngling's fighter, and a distress beacon from it." She said. "Our commanders decided to try to learn more about the people here, hence my life-mate, our children, our soul-sibs and several others were dropped here. Kylin and I were to keep a watch on Jacinth and provide her support if necessary, and training if possible, which is what Jacinth is receiving currently."

Lena blinked. What she had seen had been _training_?! It had been far, far more vicious than the fighting styles Lan taught the rest of them. Of course, it had also included moves that were — frankly — impossible for a human. "That was _training_?!" She asked.

Jodi frowned, crossing her arms. "So why actually tell us that you were here?" She asked.

"Because one of your number knows about us already." Nyra said. "Well, five not counting Jacinth know about us." She amended. "The one you call Daria, along with the boy, Ronlyn, and the Companions that are their soul-sibs and Jacinth's." She said, flicking her tail. "And yes," she said, turning to Lena. "That was training. If you would fight daemons at a range where wraith weapons can be effective, then being not only very good, but able to anticipate the dirtiest tricks imaginable — and quite a few that aren't — is a very good thing."

"Ronlyn doesn't _have_ a Companion." Jodi said, still frowning. "If he did, I would know, since he is here for the Heralds, helping investigate some things that Jacinth brought with her."

Kieran shook his head. "Actually," he said. "He does." When both Herald and Trainee looked at him, he shrugged, leaning forward slightly. "The latest Chosen, a second Rhyl'saarii—"

"Rhyl'saar." Nyra cut in. "Rhyl'saarii is a pair or more, Rhyl'saar is one alone."

"Rhyl'saar then." Kieran said, frowning slightly. "Anyway, the latest Chosen is a Rhyl'saar by name of Xerrick, Chosen of Darius." He said. "At least that's the official word. What nobody has said is that Xerrick is actually Ronlyn." He said. "Apparently the boy was kidnapped on the day he was Chosen, and broke out by changing himself into a Rhyl'saar somehow. For safety's sake, he Chose to call himself 'Xerrick' while he was scaled."

"How in havens could that happen?" Lena asked, then blinked and clapped her hands over her mouth, blushing furiously.

Chuckling as she shifted her adoptive sister in her arms, Kellis flicked her tail as she stepped forward. "Some species have the ability to take on the forms of other creatures." She said. "Which was how Mum and Dad rescued me."

Nyra nodded. "Kellis speaks truly." She said. "And it seems that in some species, the ability can turn up as a Gift."

Lena turned, and blinked at the lizard. It was small, perhaps as large as a seven year old, its scales reds and browns. That was no Hertasi. "But… you're nothing like her…" She said weakly. It was far too much far too fast for her to keep up.

Kellis chuckled again, her tail flicking. "That is because we're different species." She said. "Mum and Dad rescued me from slavers, and adopted me because my own parents were nowhere to be found." She did not actually remember them, having only been a hatchling, just out of the egg.

Kieran frowned. "I've never heard of a Herald or a Mage having such a Gift." He said. "It would certainly have been recorded if it had been encountered before."

"It is an old Gift for my people," Nyra said, flicking her tail slowly. "But old for one people doesn't mean that it is old for all. It might be new to your people, a random change as Jreferth tries to bring the best out in the species She birthed." She shrugged her wings. "It might be that it is an old Gift, one that has either lain dormant until now, or has been associated with something else before. Or it might be that some event in the past millennium has created it, or drawn portions of other things and fused them into something new."

Kieran frowned. "If anything 'created' it, it is likely to have been the Mage Storms, a bit more than a century ago." He said. "They created and moved around other things; maybe Ronlyn's Gift is an effect that hasn't previously been encountered."

"Shouldn't it have shown up before?" Jodi asked. "I mean, if it came about because of the Storms, then surely one or more of Ronlyn's ancestors from between then and now should have had the Gift, or had some effect from the Storms that marked them."

"Maybe it did, but was linked to something else entirely." Nyra said with a shrug. "More likely Ronlyn is the first to actually have the Gift in full while his ancestors only showed part of it. Looser skin that tore off but only revealed more skin, faster healing wounds maybe enhanced abilities compared to most." She was not sure, not having seen this before, but she thought that usually there were things that showed up as slightly abnormal. Not enough to really cause comments, but enough to say that the person was different from the 'average', and it was only several generations down the line that something happened and what had come before actually linked together in one person, who did something completely out of the ordinary. "Maybe Ronlyn's family has been hit by these 'Mage Storms', and he is the first to show the hidden effects of it. The thing about something like that is that it's _wild_ magic, untamed, uncontrolled and certainly not directed by a mortal's hand. It might be millennia before the full effects are seen." She had done some checking in the archives, since several people had mentioned the Mage Storms since she had been here.

Lena shifted slightly. "Does that mean that we could be seeing others, besides Ronlyn, with weird abilities?" She asked. "Like… like flying without wings, or even having wings but looking mostly human or something?"

Nyra shrugged her wings. "It is possible." She said, flicking her tail slowly. "In fact, I would say that it may well be _probable_ given what these Mage Storms apparently did and the fact that callings like that of the Heralds or the Hreathrae Dforgrym will often draw those with unique abilities." She said.

"So how do we tell the good guys from the bad?" Lena asked.

Kieran snorted. "Lena we often can't tell the good _humans_ from the bad without watching them for a long time and using a good bit of luck." He said. "We will, no doubt, have the same problem with those that are not human."

Kellis frowned. "There are probably things that you can use for us the way you do for you." She said, flicking her tail slowly.

"That actually brings up a point." Nyra said. "My life mate, Kylin, mentioned that Jacinth said magic users can see both the Power that seeps into us, and the weapons we wield in Jreferth's defence." She said. "That Power marks us in its own way, like my eyes."

"So if we see someone with glowing eyes, we'd best call a Herald Mage." Jodie said, nodding slightly. "Very well."

* * *

Lena grunted as her Companion nudged her shoulder. _:You're unusually quiet, Chosen.:_ Meren said as she turned from where she was sat, staring at the ground while her year mates chatted around her.

She shrugged, reaching up to pat his neck. "Just got a lot to think about, Meren." Lena said, shifting slightly.

"Go' a lo' o' whot ta think about, Lena?" Bert asked, looking up from his book.

Lena shrugged again. "Things." She said, not willing to say just what, especially when both Kieran _and_ Jodie had impressed upon her the need for secrecy as far as the new 'Hreathrae Dforgrym' were concerned, and just who the other lizard was.

He looked at her curiously for a moment before shrugging and going back to his book.

"You hear about that new lizard one of the Companions dragged in?" One of the others from their group asked.

Bert nodded. "I 'eard about it." He said. "Heard it near caused a riot when it tried gettin' on the Companion, though why any o' them would _want_ a lizard on their back I don't know." He said.

"Why do they want us on their backs?" Lena asked, shifting and leaning back against Meren. "I mean, I know Meren would rather be stuck in the field than not have me ride him, but that doesn't explain why me." She said.

Bert shrugged. "Because we're human an' we're Heralds." He said.

Meren snorted from his position behind Lena. _:No, you're a Herald because I'm a Companion. If I was a normal horse, I'd still rather you than any other.:_ He said, his voice warm as he nosed Lena.

She leaned back with a sigh. Looking up, she watched Kellis hurry past on some errand or another. As far as everyone else knew, the young lizard was just a variant of the _Hertasi_, but Lena knew that she was effectively the daughter of the 'nobles' that had taken her in. "Not what I meant." She said. "Look, Companions are at least as intelligent as us, so are the Gryphons, _Hertasi_, Kyree, Ratha and everything else, so why — besides tradition — have none of the Companions except Civa and Darius Chosen those that are not human when we have so many?" She asked. Looking around, she saw the others shrug. That had been about her own feeling.

_:Maybe because these are the first that meet the requirement of the Heralds.:_ Meren suggested. _:We can't take Kyree, Ratha or Gyphons for our Chosen because they stand out too much and have no hands to do things. Tervadi are too likely to be caught, Hertasi serve more than anything, and serving a country is too impersonal to them.:_

"Which leaves humans or those lizards that look like large Hertasi." Lena said with a nod. "But from what I've heard of Jacinth, she's saved several people, can fight and fight hard and can fit on Companion back."

Bert snorted. "Yeah, well she almost _killed_ the Weapons Master." He said.

"To save her own life." One of the others put in. "At least the way I heard it, the Weapons Master pushed her and pushed her, so she pushed back. Hard."

Lena nodded. "I saw her training once, believe me, the Weapons Master doesn't push us anywhere near as hard as she pushed herself." She said. "That field near her metal thing has a massive obstacle course in it now, and she worked in it with Xerrick, both were going at least half again the Weapons Master's full speed, and they were going all out." She snorted to herself. Huh. Her encounter with that Nyra and Kellis seemed to have changed her outlook a bit.

"Yeah. Tha' thing." Bert said dismissively. "I don' know whot she says it is, but it's a pile of rubbish. Ain' no way it can fly—." Whatever else he had been about to say was cut off by a series of echoing explosions.

* * *

Jacinth was running for her fighter even before she had realised that that had been where the explosions had come from. Given the fact that things were not turning to fire and vapour around her, she guessed that the fighter's power plant was still in tact but… something was making those noises, and they were far too loud for gunpowder. In fact, they sounded like sonic booms. She grimaced as another explosion echoed overhead. Fainter than the previous ones, not that that filled her with any confidence.

Reaching the field in which her fighter stood, she swore heartily, seeing several youths sitting around looking rather stunned, several were rather reddened as well. Leaping over them, she ran to the fighter, which was still stood in the field. "_Fighter, disengage anti-tamper and give me a status report._" She ordered. "_Authorisation Jacinth-Delta-Seven._" It was probably a good job that she had been around long enough to know the fighter AI.

"_Authorisation accepted, Flight Cadet._" The fighter responded, its systems coming back on line. What was left of them anyway. "_Physical status unchanged, however I appear to be missing a pair of heavy missiles._"

"Shit." Jacinth swore, her mind working overtime as she scrambled into the cockpit and checked the fighter's controls. "_Find me those missiles, then send them straight up until they run out of fuel._" She ordered, her fingers moving quickly over the controls as she tried to locate the munitions manually. Finding one, she pulled its targeting data and swore again. The missile had flown off into the sky, but it was most likely already on its way… the return of the sonic booms confirmed what she had already guessed. The missile had somehow locked on to one of the collegium buildings as its target.

Casting a look out at the sky, she grimaced, seeing a plume of fire from where the missile was flying back towards the collegium and palace at supersonic speeds. Turning back to her console, she worked as quickly as she could, watching with growing dread as the missile continued towards its target. If she was _lucky_ this would mean replacing all the glass in the place. If she was not… there likely would be no more collegium.

Finally, with the missile literally metres away from the wall of the Healers' Collegium, Jacinth managed to get control of it and wrested it upwards, sending it as high as she could before detonating it. Even with the missile's speed and endurance, the explosion from it felt far too close for comfort, and the light and noise were certainly far too real.

Panting, she closed her eyes for a moment, before turning back to the search. There was still another missile out there. Finding that one — fortunately at rest — she sent it to follow its partner into self destruction thousands of miles above the surface of the planet.

"_Missiles destroyed. Casualties minimal._" The fighter told her as Jacinth dropped her head back against her seat. "_The humans sitting off my starboard wing, however, need to learn that playing with ship-killer warheads is very dangerous._" It said, loud enough that a couple of the humans twitched.

Jacinth snorted softly. "_The humans of this world aren't as advanced as the ones back home, Fighter._" She said, twitching her tail. "_You said yourself that this world is pre-Industrial._" She pointed out, pulling herself out of her chair and climbing out of the cockpit and down to the ground.

There was a distinct snort from the fighter. "_They should still leave things that they do not understand alone._" It said.

Snorting again, Jacinth flicked her tail rudely at the fighter as she walked up to the group. "Alright, just _what_ did you think you were doing?" She asked, glaring down at them.

They looked at her as if she were speaking another language. Jacinth frowned, turning to look back at her fighter. "Fighter, I _am_ using the local language aren't I?" She asked. Getting a confirmation, she scowled. If she was using the local tongue why were—. Oh! If these idiots had set off the missile that had nearly blown the Healer's collegium to dust, most likely its rocket had deafened them. Reaching down, she grabbed a blue tunic and hauled its owner up.

"HEY!" The girl cried. "YOU CAN'T DO THIS. LET ME GO!"

Jacinth snorted, the girl was obviously deaf, meaning that they needed a Healer here. _:Civa, get Daria, and a Healer.:_ She said mentally, her tail lashing. _:What the __**hell**__ did you think you were doing to my fighter?:_ She snapped mentally at the human she held.

The girl flinched at the voice in her head and stared at Jacinth for several moments. "We-we-we…." She stuttered. She squeaked, swallowing hard when Jacinth growled, her hearing returning enough to pick that up. "It was Keri's idea." She managed, pointing at boy, this one in a russet tunic.

Releasing the girl, Jacinth grabbed the indicated boy, who was still shaking the ringing out of his ears, by the collar of his tunic and hauled him up. _:Why did you decide it was a __**good**__ idea to mess with something you were told not to?:_ She asked him harshly, still using mind speech. _:Do you realise you almost destroyed the Healer's Collegium, at least?:_ She asked. It was 'at least' because she could not remember off hand how powerful the warhead in those missiles was, except that it had to get through ship hulls.

"It was only a little fun." Keri defended himself. "No one got hurt."

Jacinth snorted. "'No one got hurt.'" She mimicked him, her tail still lashing from side to side. "The only reason that no one got hurt, you damned idiot, is because you didn't damage the missile's controls when you were playing with it." She snarled. "Even if the warhead hadn't gone off, kinetic damage from the missile would be the equivalent of standing in the path of the entire herd of Companions." She ground out. "Anti-ship missiles are five metres long, point four metres wide and weigh in around nine hundred kilos." She said. "That's as much as all four of you, and four of your friends. Add in that it travels in the region of two thousand metres per second and even if the warhead _didn't_ go off, you'd be damn lucky if the Healer's Collegium actually had a wall where the missile came out." Actually, they would be damn lucky to have a building, never mind anything else.

Keri paled. Most of that had gone straight over his head, but he had understood the fact that the thing he and his friends had pried off the wreck would do a lot of damage to the Healer's collegium. "I-i-it was only a bit of fun." He managed, swallowing. "N-no one believes all the stuff people say about that thing." He said, waving at the fighter.

Jacinth growled, letting him go as several Heralds and Healers approached. "You should check them for deafness." She said to the Healers. "And see if they have anything resembling brains." She added before catching Daria and going over to the fighter. "_I need time off from lessons to disarm the missiles on my fighter._" She said, switching to her own tongue.

Shifting slightly, Daria frowned. "_Why?_" She asked, using the same language as Jacinth.

"_Because those four idiots, and probably their friends as well, managed to get a pair of missiles off my fighter._" Jacinth replied, flicking her tail. "_The explosions earlier were the one missile flying around, and some how it managed to lock the Healer's Collegium as its target. Kinetic damage alone would have likely made a forty centimetre hole in the walls it passed through. If we were lucky._" She said, the last grimly.

"_And if we weren't?_" Daria asked, knowing that she was not going to like the answer to that.

Having been listening to the conversation, the fighter made a sound suspiciously like a snort. "_If we weren't, then kinetic damage alone would probably collapse the building and any buildings on the missile's flight path._" It put in, causing Daria to blink and several of the people near by to freeze. "_Explosive damage though might have wiped this city off the map. The AS-08 missile, commonly known as the warhammer, packs one hundred and ten kilograms of unstable liquid hydrogen. The kinetic energy from the impact sets off a reaction between the hydrogen two and the hydrogen three it contains, resulting in nuclear fusion and an explosion in the region of ten to twenty megatons._"

Daria had not understood any of the scientific part of that, but the fact that the 'warhammer' could destroy Haven made her go white. "Sweet Lady Bright." She whispered. "_How many of those things does your ship have?_" She asked Jacinth.

"_Two, both of which have been destroyed._" Jacinth replied. "_Fortunately the other missiles are anti-fighter and of the twenty I had, three are left._" She said, flicking her tail. "_Unfortunately, those three are powerful enough to destroy a fighter, so a building probably wouldn't stand up to them._"

"_Actually, the Arrow HS and Bolt ImRec missiles have an explosive charge of twenty kilograms._" The fighter put in. "_Compared to the Warhammer, these are light, but most of their volume is taken by sensor, vector control and burners. Even so, they can do a few kilotons of explosive damage._"

Seeing Daria looking at her curiously, Jacinth shrugged slightly. "_ImRec means image recognition, HS stands for heat seeker. Actually, the Arrow is more likely to be trouble than the Bolt, since the Arrow seeks out heat sources, meaning it'd go after the biggest it could find. The Bolt would likely end up locking on to nothing and flying in a straight line, since it gets its target from the fighter's computer._" She explained.

Daria sighed. "_Well, it's something._" She said. "_Alright, get those 'missiles' off your fighter and disarm them, permanently, if you can._" She told Jacinth before glancing over at where the Healers were trying to look industrious about checking the young fools that had set off the other missiles. "_And you,_" She added, pointing at the fighter. "_Keep whatever you use for speaking, shut. The mages are likely to be poking you over the energy in your power plant, never mind the fact that you talk._" She said, before turning back to the crowd and walking over to them. "Now." She said, ignoring the rude noise from behind her. "If these four are healthy, the Dean and I want a word with them."

"What about the beast?" One of the Healers asked. "It's… thing almost destroyed our Collegium."

Another nodded. "And it's metal thing. No object can talk, unless it's possessed by demons."

Daria sighed. "Trainee Jacinth was the one that saved not only your collegium, but our city after these four decided to try playing with something far beyond our understanding." She said. "If they had left her ship alone, there would have been no reason for it to talk, nor would there have been anything flying around that could have done as much damage as it claims." She said.

"Nothing can do that much damage." A Mage snapped from somewhere in the crowd.

Turning to face where the voice had come from, Daria snorted. "No?" She asked. "Lake Evandim and the Dhorisha Plains say different. And those are examples from within our own history." She said. "Besides, those big explosions earlier were probably from the weapons that these fools set off." She added, waving at the four youths. "Considering _I_ thought we had suddenly gained a second sun when each happened, I can well imagine the size of them being much bigger than they appeared. Quite possibly bigger than Haven."

"This would be the reason we said that no one besides the Companions, myself, Herald Daria, Trainee Jacinth, the King or the Dean are to approach the wreck." Jodie put in, making her way through the crowd. "Though I would like to know how something of that size could do that much damage." She said, looking at Daria.

Daria shrugged. "Ask Jacinth or her fighter, since they know better than me." She said, then snorted to herself. "The explanations are rather over my head." She added.

Jodie snorted softly. "If they're over your head, when you're our expert in the language, they'll blow straight past me." She said before turning to the group gathered around them. "Don't you lot have things to do?" She asked. "Because if you don't, I can find you things." She said, glaring at the people until they dispersed. "Except you four." She said, pointing at the quartet that the Healers had been looking at. "The Dean wants a word with you."

* * *

"Did you get anything?" The young man in a blue tunic asked as two of his friends entered the workshop.

Making their way over to the workbench, the pair grunted, dropping a piece of scorched metal onto it before standing back and rubbing their arms. "Yeah. T'others were goin' to try getting one o' those big things off the metal thing. Dunno what happened to 'em, but we grabbed this and got." The girl said. "Dunno what it is, but it's bloody 'eavy."

Frowning, the young man made his way over to the table and studied the metal. "Huh." He said, reaching for a sheet of paper and a charcoal stick. "It looks like metal, which probably explains why it's so heavy, even a short sword is heavy for its size."

The girl snorted, leaning against the table. "Yeah, but that doesn't explain why that lizard critter the Companion Chose says the thing it was part o' can fly, Ry." She said. "Besides—." She was cut off as the light of day suddenly became much brighter for a moment, stark shadows being cast around the room. The glow faded, only to be replaced by another brilliant glow which followed the same pattern as the first. "What was that?" She asked, as the light returned to normal.

"What was what, Sheri?" Ryan asked, looking up. He had been so engrossed in studying the alien metal that he had not noticed the explosions.

Sheri arched an eyebrow at him. "You didn't even notice, did you?" She asked, crossing her arms over her chest. "The whatevers that just happened, the ones that could have probably turned night to day."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Ryan said, still making notes on the paper. "Hmm… The unknown fragment is approximately six feet long, six feet wide and six inches deep. Weight is unknown at present, but is heavy as it took two people to heft it, it is also shaped, presumably to cover part of an unknown item." He said, measuring the metal on the table.

Snorting, Sheri watched Ryan work. That was about typical of him once he got engrossed in something. "It's probably metal, wrong look for wood." She pointed out.

Ryan nodded slightly, frowning at a hole he had found in the metal. "Probably not all that strong given the hole here." He said, gesturing at it with his pencil. "It looks as if something burned through there." He said, moving to measure the hole. "Something about three inches across." He said, before putting his paper down and moving to pick up a mining pick. Climbing up onto the table, he braced himself, his legs spread and raised the pick above his head.

The head of the pick impacted against the metal with a solid sounding clang and flew off its shaft into the recesses of the workshop. Blinking, Sheri moved to look at the area the pick had hit. "Not even a scratch." She said, surprised. "This is stronger than steel." She said as Ryan examined his broken tool, panting harshly.

Ryan snorted softly. "That doesn't mean that it's particularly strong." He said. "After all, something put a big hole through it." He pointed out, jumping off the table and leaning the mining pick's haft against it as he moved over to a set of draws and dug through them. Finally finding what he wanted, he went back to the table and set the diamond in his hand.

Pressing the diamond against the metal, he moved his hand along it, gritting his teeth against the grinding noise it made. Moving it along the metal for about a foot, he took the diamond off and moved down before repeating the process. Checking the diamond in his hand after the second attempt, Ryan grunted in surprise. The diamond had been worn down by the metal. Wiping the dust off the metal, he grunted again. The sharp edge of the diamond had done nothing to the metal plate. What was this stuff?

Looking over his shoulder, Sheri blinked. "Tougher than diamond?" She asked. "If it doesn't melt easily, I wonder what actually made that hole, because I really don't want to meet something that could do that to something like this."

Ryan frowned, shifting slightly. "Maybe." He said. "But I'm more interested in why that lizard says the thing you got this from can fly. It certainly ain't this." He said, gesturing at the metal. "Though if we could make a lighter version, maybe we could give it to the soldiers. Maybe we wouldn't need such thick armour for going against swords and stuff."

Sheri snorted. "Good luck figuring out how to make it." She said as the bells rang out. "I've got to get to class." She added, heading for the door.

* * *

Having finally managed to get her fighter's missiles disarmed and dismounted, Jacinth made her way through the palace gardens, her tail flicking slowly as she walked. The incident earlier had only highlighted how people thought of her. The problem was, unless they adapted, they were just going to sit in the rut they were in and never become any more than bigoted idiots. Jacinth snorted softly. She was not going to be able to stop that sort of thing from happening since there were always idiots, even amongst her own kind.

Turning a corner, she almost fell on her snout as a young boy ran under her feet. Catching her balance, Jacinth blinked. The last time that had happened had been with the youngling at the farm. Looking down, she found the young boy on his back in front of her, tear stains on his face. Kneeling down, she offered the boy a hand. "Hey now." She said gently. "What're you running away from in such a hurry?" She asked, studiously ignoring the way he shrank away from her. Far too many people seemed to react that way.

"There he is!" The shout came from along the path Jacinth had been following.

Looking up, she scowled, seeing a group of youths running towards her. Getting to her feet, she moved between the boy and his pursuers. "That's far enough." She said, her tail flicking slowly.

"Out of the way, lizard, this doesn't concern you." One of the group sneered.

She snorted. "Tough shit, human." Jacinth said. "I'm making it my concern so turn around and go away unless you want to learn why you shouldn't piss of a member of the Knights." She said, flicking her tail. She felt her weapons stir and stilled them with a mental command. They would be overkill for dealing with a group of highborn bullies.

One of the boys in the group moved forwards and spat at Jacinth. "Get out of the way street scum." He sneered.

Jacinth's tail twitched as she shifted her foot away from where the boy's spit had landed. "You're calling the wrong person that, boy." She said. "I am Jacinth G're, heir to Rhyl'naarii Mountains." She said, for once laying claim to the title she had inherited after her grandmother died and her mother had become not only the _Tempest_'s Lieutenant Commander, but also the Lady of the Rhyl'naarii Mountains. "I am also a Heraldic Trainee, which makes things like this my concern." She said.

The girl in front snorted. "Never heard of it." She said. "Which means you're not only a beast, but a liar." She looked at her friends. "Show this beast what it means to come between me and my brother when he's learning lessons." She said.

The four boys grinned and moved forward together.

Jacinth rolled her eyes. When this was done, someone was going to have to talk about discipline for the idiot nobility, and teach them not to attack a Knight, who was far out of their league when it came to combat. Flicking her tail, she stepped forward to meet the four. Dodging a punch from the first, she kicked him in the groin, then slammed her elbow into his neck, knocking him to the ground.

The second boy attacked with a series of punches, which Jacinth avoided before using the heel of her hand to knock him away, hammering it into his solar plexus. Turning away as soon as the boy was dealt with, she used her tail to trip the third boy before kicking him in the chin.

Stepping over the unconscious boy, she caught the fourth's foot, her own lashing out to take him in the groin, making him scream in pain. Releasing his foot and letting him curl up, she moved forward, ducking down, and brought her fist up in an uppercut that lifted him off his feet and sent him crashing down on his back.

Moving forward quickly, she caught the girl and delivered a stinging backhand slap, the sharp retort of scale striking skin echoing around them. "You stupid girl." She snarled. "You dare treat your own _kin_ that way? I'm surprised your parents haven't spanked you hard enough that you can't sit down for that." Jacinth growled.

Reeling back from the slap, Tali raised a shaking hand to her bruised cheek. She could not believe that anyone would do that to her. Holding her cheek, she looked at Jacinth, shocked. "You-you…."

Catching the girl again, Jacinth held the girl's arm. "Now you listen to me." She snarled. "If that is your brother, you are supposed to be guiding him and providing an example for him, not using him for a punch bag for you and your friends." She growled, waving at the young boy, who was now on his knees, staring at the scene, his eyes wide.

Tali stared at her. Who was this lizard that claimed to be a Trainee and a noble to say such things to her? To Princess Tali? "Why should I?" She asked defiantly. "He's a bastard and a brat." She whimpered as Jacinth's hand cracked against her cheek again.

"He's still your blood, girl." Jacinth said harshly. "And just be glad that you actually _have_ a brother. I lost mine years ago." She said, glaring at Tali.

"Then you take him." Tali snapped back. "I don't want the little bastard, and I sure as hell don't know why my father, the King had to have him."

Jacinth snorted. "You just answered your own question you little idiot." She said. "An heir and a spare is how things go in most realms, including on my home world." She pointed out. "And if you're such a brat that the Companions won't Choose you the way they have to Choose the Heir, then he's the one more likely to become king after your father."

That was the crux of the matter. She was the first born, she should have been heir, especially since Valdemar had had several Queens over the centuries. "It's not _fair_." Tali spat. "Why does the heir _have_ to have a talking _horse_? Why should my position be threatened because I don't have one?" She asked, moving to pull away.

Jacinth tightened her grip on the girl, pulling her back so she could look her in the eye. "You live in Valdemar and you don't remember what your own ancestor put in place and why?" She asked. Getting a head shake in response, she snorted. "The way they told me, your ancestor was King Valdemar, and he wanted to avoid his Kingdom descending into the same sort of chaos and political backstabbing that his own former king's lands were ruled by. That was why he called the Companions into being, creatures that would prevent his descendants from falling to the same trap." She said, flicking her tail slowly. "Every ruler of Valdemar _has_ to be a Herald because they alone are immune to the corruption of power. In the same respect, every Knight _has_ to have soul-sibs to keep them from falling to the same evil that they fight daily." She said, the glow in her eyes intensifying. "I am not only a Herald, but a Knight, and I have to fight not only people's fears but the things in the darkness. The creatures that would rip your soul out and torture it for eternity."

Tali blinked at the glow in Jacinth's eyes. There was Power there beyond even what her father wielded, and yet… the female in front of her was just as mortal. She closed her eyes and sighed. "Why though?" She asked. "What's so wrong about power?"

Jacinth snorted. "If you have to ask that, you don't know the first thing about real power." She said, flicking her tail. "Real power is nothing to do with feasts and entertainment or leisure. It's about watching over those that depend on you and protecting them as best you can while still letting them make their own mistakes and take their own risks." She said. "The power you see is what got my ancestors murdered. What corrupted my people and led them into the kind of darkness that it took an outside force to break them out of." She said softly. "That force was the Hreathrae Dforgrym. And even then, they weren't as they are now. Many of the original group damn near died breaking the misconceptions and preconceptions that others among them had. Did so saving the ones that had bad mouthed them so much." She looked down at Tali and released her. "If you want to prove yourself worthy of your father's crown, _Princess_, look at yourself and your own actions." She said before walking back to the young Prince and picking him up, continuing on her way as Tali wept, kneeling amongst her unconscious friends.


	9. Dragons of the Stars

Disclaimer

Valdemar, Velgarth and anything else from that world belong to Mercedes Lackey. The Knights and characters, save the Grove-born, belong to me

Reviewers

**Warbender** — Sorry to have kept you waiting, this one has been a bit of a pain to write, mostly because of the last scene not forming properly until recently.

**Uncertain-Angel** — Still haven't abandoned it, sometimes I just get swamped with things, and sometimes it takes an age to figure out a scene. I think I've been poking this chapter on and off for most of the time since the last chapter was posted.

**Ginastar** — Maybe not yet, but she'll get the message eventually.

**sparkyCSI** — Thanks. I've been working on some other things with them in on and off. Of course, full on originals need more work than a fanfic.

**crxbnt** — Thank you. When I can get the scenes to work for me, it's fun to write as well. Especially since we have the fun of culture clashes.

Note

Just so people are aware, Tr'wynoth is supposed to have 'small caps' on his speach to make it powerful without shouting. Unfortunately ate that bit of formating and doesn't have it available.

* * *

Flicking his tail slowly, N'rr looked up as Kaalii entered the squad barracks. He had been trying to compose a message to Jacinth, to tell her what had happened since they had parted ways. Trying and failing utterly. "Sssomething up, Kaal?" He asked, putting the data pad down on the small bedside table.

"Mostly coming to see how you are, N'rr." Kaalii replied, her own tail flicking as she walked across the room to sit down on his bed. "I'm glad you're out of the tank." She said softly. "I was afraid that we would lose another out there."

Shifting slightly on his bed, N'rr shook his head, reaching up to rub her back. "The only one misssssing at the moment isss Gerry." He said, his lips twitching in what might have been a smile on a being of another species when she arched against his hand.

Kaalii blinked, turning to look down at him. "We're only missing Gerry?" She asked. "I thought they didn't know what happened to Jacinth."

"They found her." N'rr replied, flicking his tail slowly. "The Commander told me while I wasss in the tank. We can't go to fetch her, but she'sss alive and well on another world." He said, rubbing her back slowly. "Hencsse thisss." He said, waving at the pad.

"We can't?" Kaalii asked. "Why not?" Why they were not allowed to go and rescue their friend?

N'rr flicked his tail and shrugged. "Becaussse Jacss isss on an inhabited world." He said, rolling onto his stomach and bracing his chin on his hands. "Apparently word came down from the Commodore that we couldn't disssturb the development of Rhyl'ssseer Four any more than we already have, not yet anyway." He said. "We can talk to her though, sssincsse there are recon teamsss on the ground, finding out what'sss going on there." He continued as she turned to him. "We do know that Jacss isss… involved with one of the countriesss of the world, and she isss living free."

Kaalii frowned, and then sighed. "I suppose we couldn't go in with rockets roaring if she's involved with one of the countries of this planet and it's inhabited." She said, flicking her tail. They could not — in good conscious — go in to take their friend back when she was on an inhabited world and the Commodore had ordered them to leave things lie. "I hate to think of her alone down there though. Especially when we know nothing about this planet."

He nodded. "Agreed on that, Kaal." N'rr said. "But we can't do anything about it beyond messssage her and try to keep her ssspiritsss up if they are flagging." He flicked his tail slowly. "Wish I knew what to write to her though. I want to tell her about everything that'sss happened here, but…." He shrugged.

"You can't find the words." Kaalii said, nodding, then snorting at her mane as it fell over her eyes. Brushing it back out of the way, she reached over and picked the data pad up. "Want me to look and see if I can't come up with something?" She asked.

He waved a hand at the pad. "Sure." N'rr said, flicking his tail. "I doubt I'm going to get anywhere with it at the moment."

Kaalii snorted in amusement. "N'rr, there are times when you can't write a report, never mind a letter."

N'rr gave her what passed for a flat look amongst his kind. The big problem with what he had to do was writing the squad reports for everything from maintenance to after action breakdowns of how each member had worked, both alone and together. "You want to try taking the leader role again, Kaal?" He asked. "Because if ssso, you can get all the reportsss."

"Hardly." Kaalii replied, waving a hand dismissively. "I had my fill of the leader role, besides, you're better at it than I am." She said, flicking her tail and leaning back slightly as she frowned at what N'rr had written. "Your plans tend to work better than mine." She said, picking up the stylus on the cabinet as she started editing the letter.

He snorted at her. "Well, with Jacss ssstuck on Rhyl'ssseer Four for…" he waved a hand. "However long before we get a green light to go in. I need a new sssquad XssO." N'rr said, flicking his tail as he watched her work. "Want _that_ job?" He asked.

"Not really, but I doubt the others would be able to work as your XO anywhere near as well as Jac was." Kaalii said, flicking her tail. "I'll do it, for you and the squad, but you owe me, N'rr." She said. "And I'll be collecting later."

He snorted softly. That failed to surprise him. "At leassst you sssaid 'yesss'." N'rr commented.

* * *

"I thought your people weren't going to interfere." The Star-Eyed said as She emerged into the plane of the Aspects once again.

Snorting softly, Tr'wynoth flicked his tail, and shrugged wings made of golden flame. "**There is a difference between infiltrating to watch and interfering with a planet's development, Star-Eyed.**" He said, His voice rumbling around the grove He lay in. Opening an eye that glowed blue with His Power, He looked at the goddess. "**My Chosen sent people in that could blend in and adapt to the local climate because Your people interest him.**"

Arching an eyebrow at the massive dragon, the Star-Eyed walked forward, passing through the ring of stones surrounding the grove until She was level with His head. Of course, that head was big enough that — had She been human and uninvited — She had no doubt Her physical form would be no more than a bite. "My people interest _Your_ Chosen?" She asked. "How?"

"**The Heralds, the Shin'a'in and the Tayledras are, in many ways, the sort of groups that Ghrathryn wishes to make the Hreathrae Dforgrym into, Star-Eyed.**" Tr'wynoth said, shifting slightly to look at her. "**On the one side, there are the fighters that guard Jerferth and Her children, uncorruptable, stable and capable of watching out for their lands. On the other, there are those that nurture the lands, ones that tend to its sickness when there is nothing a blade can do or encourage creatures to not only survive but both live free and florish. Your people show that it can be done, and while he has his own concerns, he learns from the past of not just his people but others as well, including Yours.**" He said, motioning at the lake with one forepaw. Tr'wynoth knew His Chosen, He had been watching the line since the day so many millennia ago when they had first set foot upon the world that called Harrenthias. More than that, He had guided the children of that long ago refugee captain to bring about the births of the two that would set His Mother's plans into action.

She frowned, scowling at the waters of the lake. "Why would one from another world care about what people do on mine?" The Star-Eyed asked. "Even though he is as human as they." At least that was what she assumed given that J'karryn had said that Ghrathryn was her brother.

Tr'wynoth snorted, His breath creating ripples on the water. "**His sister is human, Star-Eyed.**" He said, Calling on His Power and summoning the image of His Chosen to the waters. "**Ghrathryn himself is not. He is half human, half Franthoryn, a species of dragon from his home world of Harrenthias. One capable of breeding with humans because Franthoryn are descended of them, just as the Kel'ryth are. He knows the value of different views, which is why he is interested in what happens on your world beyond the youngling being there.**" He explained, flicking His tail slowly.

She studied the image in the lake. "Until the child came to my world, I had no idea that such a creature could exist." The Star-Eyed said, frowning slightly at the expression on the creature's face. "Such sad eyes. He is one that has seen far too much of the world's darkness."

"**It is why he fights the darkness, so that others do no suffer such.**" He looked down at Her, flicking his tail slowly as He watched Her. "**Amongst Your own people, many of those that take the vows are likely of a similar disposition and will.**"

The Star-Eyed nodded. "Many of those sworn to the sword have reason enough to wish to fight. They yield much when they take the vows though."

Tr'wynoth nodded. "**And always, children see too much. They suffer, and they grow up to take the vow that leads to them being apart from their people, making family where they can.**"

Snorting softly, the Star-Eyed turned away from the lake to look at the large gold. "Barely two centuries ago there was one such. She serves me still, Leshya'e Kal'enedral."

Tr'wynoth nodded. There were always those that were drawn to a life — and afterlife — of putting themselves in front of others, and all too often it seemed that those most inclined to it suffered some loss as younglings that shaped them into the swords needed for the role.

* * *

A dark, skeletal tail flicked in the harsh light provided by the holographic star system floating above the table in the room. "We don't know much ssso far." The Sss'thrsssin said. "The piratesss that usssed thisss placsse ssseem to have been acting alone, but that isss not confirmed."

Shifting slightly, Karinth frowned. "So what do we know about this group, J'rr?" She asked the Sss'thrsssin taking the briefing. The intelligence officer had been there since the beginning, her son had been Jacinth's squad leader until the mission that had landed her on Rhyl'seer Four.

J'rrsssth shifted slightly, tapping in a command on her control panel, causing the holo to zoom in on the asteroid belts and the pair of planets between them. "Currently, the group we tangled with ssseemsss to be the only one in the area. Their shipsss were limited to a dessstroyer and a few sssmaller warshipsss between that and the fightersss they threw at usss. Total persssonnel essstimate isss around twenty thousssand all in, but we might not have found everything yet." She admitted.

"And this is their operating area?" Karinth asked, flicking her tail.

"It is their bassse area." J'rr corrected. "From what we can get out of their computersss they operated out from here a good two and a half to three parsssecsss in all directionsss, which isss probably far enough that our children'sss flight path passssssed through the area." She said, her tail lashing briefly. What it must have been like to have had these scum coming at them without even a warning…. Well, that was a big mistake on the pirates' part.

Frowning slightly, Karinth nodded. That made sense. Of course, if these people were pirates and not raiders, they would have to have their base of operations within a reasonable distance of where they were striking, but not so close as to be an obvious target. "What about the planets in this system?" She asked.

J'rr shook her head. "It's unoccupied or has nothing above the sssentiencsse boundary that we've noticssed ssso far." She said. "Closssessst occupied planet with real sssignsss of intelligent life isss a parsssec away in the N'thryn sssyssstem. The nexsst nearessst occupied planet isss one and a half parsssecsss in the opposssite direction from the bassse." She said, flicking her tail. "Rhyl'ssseer Four."

Karinth's wings twitched at that. That planet was where her daughter was. "Well, I'd say check in with our operatives there; see if they can pick up any rumours of strange objects in the sky or strange events around the outskirts and rural areas." She said, flicking her tail. "Because if they are in that range, chances are, they at least knew about the place where Jacinth went down."

She nodded, making a note to remind herself later. "You know, N'rr and Kaalii have written to her." J'rr said, flicking her own tail slowly.

Karinth smiled slightly. "I know. My husband and I also have messages for her."

J'rr's mouth twitched in what might have been a smile. "Your child isss oursss, jussst asss our children are yoursss, Karinth." She said. "They have alwaysss been asss clossse asss sssiblingsss."

This time, she really did smile. "I know, J'rr." Karinth said. "And I appreciate it a lot, especially after Neeran and I lost Beldran."

Nodding slightly, the Intelligence Officer moved around the holo-table and put a hand on her friend's shoulder, squeezing gently. J'rr knew what had happened when Beldran died. That shared grief over the loss of a child had brought the crew together.

* * *

Flicking his tail, Ghrathryn leaned over the holo table that showed the systems his forces occupied. Reaching up, touched the holo where Rhyl'seer IV lay, zooming the display in to the system. It was both good and bad that they could not be there officially now. Good in that they could see what the place was like, but bad because they could not have anybody go in to talk to the people in the open, nor collect that child pilot.

He shifted, studying the layout of the system. Three planets orbited closer to the star than the world that the girl was on, and others beyond it. The spies had reported in that they had managed to infiltrate the majority of their targeted communities. Most had been sent down fairly close to the fighter's beacon, geologically speaking.

"You look like you want to make that holo dancsse a jig." An amused sounding voice came from the doorway.

Ghrathryn turned to look, smiling slightly at the sight of the draconic xenomorph that stood there. "Not yet, Hawke." He said. "That'll come later, once we get more information from our spies."

Hawke snorted softly. "Well in that cassse, you and your lifemate can join the ressst of usss down by the lake." He said, flicking his barbed tail. "The lassst of the new crew are aboard, including a ssset of third generation sss'thrsssin." He said, shifting slightly. "Which meansss we have sssome talksss to give to people, sssincsse we finally have enough crew to actually let Annihilator have sssome ressst of hisss own."

"Is that what they decided to call the group that the Rentaarii created from those xenomorphs we rescued alongside you and Faille?" Ghrathryn asked, flicking his tail slowly.

Hawke nodded. "Yesss." He said. "It cssertainly makesss sssenssse given that with the changesss Ty and Maat and their teamsss managed to make on usss we are not xenomorphsss anymore." He said, shifting slightly. "But you're avoiding the issue, Ghrath, we have people to talk to, and they should sssee their commodoresss, sssincsse they will be working under usss for a while. Maybe a long while."

Ghrathryn nodded. "Agreed, but I can't help wondering just how many won't make it through their first few months." He said, flicking his tail as he moved to join Hawke, the pair of them stepping out into the corridor.

Shrugging his wings, Hawke looked over at Ghrathryn. "No idea." He admitted. "I cssertainly remember more than a few that should ssstill be here, but aren't." He said. "What with the bombing of my home world, the battle that you ressscued usss during, and the one on Rentaarii."

"All too true." Ghrathryn said. "Though you certainly changed a bit from the more than half wild animal I had to slam into a bulkhead to what you did in that battle, to now."

He snorted, flicking his tail uncomfortably. "I wasssn't really planning thossse heroicsss." Hawke admitted. "But at the sssame time, Maat wouldn't have left that injured girl, and no one elssse could have gotten to her in time."

Ghrathryn smiled, patting the draconic sss'thrsssin on the shoulder. "True, but you did well by her, and she returned the favour." He said. "In fact, I remember seeing more than just her with burned knees and hands that day." Everyone in the squad except Hawke and Faille had ended up with acid burns as well as the injuries from the battle. It had been a rough day all around, but it had broken the back of the one-sided enmity the Rentaarii had been feeling towards the ones that would become sss'thrsssin.

He flicked his tail as the pair of them entered the lift. Turning to face the door, he leaned against the wall. "Biodeck." Ghrathryn ordered. They still had the new batch of recruits to see too.


End file.
